


Athazagoraphobia

by starburstbebe



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Communication Failure, F/M, Implied Relationships, M/M, Random OC's - Freeform, Slow Burn, but not really there there, but so is Kihyun, by which i mean hoseok is a dad, changkyun is shy, changkyunnie, daddy hoseok, don't come at me if i don't write her right, hoseok keeps calling him a puppy, hyungwon is a lil shit, hyungwon is shook, i'll add more as we go along, if that makes sense, jooheon is a good friend, minhyuk is too tbh, not like that you pervs, parenting fic, so it works out, so like, soyou is mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-03-23 00:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13776237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starburstbebe/pseuds/starburstbebe
Summary: Due to unlucky circumstance, Hoseok is in need of a babysitter for weeknights for his infant daughter and having met no one yet in his new city he's in a bind.Changkyun has come back to the city after a long hiatus at home and is looking for more stable employment while continuing his education.Thrown together by fate (more likely just pushy friends) the two create a bond but how strong a bond is yet to be determined.





	1. First Glance

Hoseok was so close to giving up and joining in with his daughter’s sobbing since for the love of everything he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He’d checked her diaper repeatedly, he’d tried feeding her multiple combinations of baby food at various warm temperatures (he’d read on a baby blog that with formula the trick was to get it as close to a mother’s body temperature as possible), bouncing made everything worse, even cuddling wasn’t helping this time and he was at his wits end. 

“Sunni please, please tell your daddy what’s wrong?” he begged holding his squirming wailing infant closer to his chest. Her crying became that much more heartbreaking when she actually began hiccuping as if she had really tried to tell him. He had called his mom about her crying once it hit about the second hour and even she was at a loss since Sunni was six months and way passed a possibly colic stage. What had him the most worried was that his daughter was usually so passive and bubbly that she only really cried when wet or when she felt like she deserved his attention. So this constant horrible crying was really grating and heightening his anxiety. 

As he continued trying to soothe her an idea struck him and he began to look around his apartment for the baby thermometer he’d been gifted but never opened. It took him awhile with his hands full and his apartment in a worse state of mess than usual, but he eventually located it behind some stored toilet paper rolls and tore open the box. The handling of it was pretty simple so he didn’t feel like he needed to read the instructions and carefully placed the flattened end on Sunni’s forehead before turning it on and waiting for the confirming beep. After what felt like an exceedingly long time the thing finally beeped and showed him a temperature of about 37.5 degrees Celsius, which he even knew was a bad sign. Hoseok bundled the two of them up and hurriedly threw on his closet pair of tennis shoes before rushing out his apartment to his car. After conferring with his GPS and still trying to calm his crying daughter, he drove to the nearest emergency care and opted for the first parking spot he could see before hurrying them out into the clinic. 

“Help, please! My daughter has a temperature an-and she hasn’t stopped crying for hours!” Hoseok anxiously told the waiting nurse behind the desk. Unlike in the dramas, she calmly instructed for him to sign in and fill out a form while they waited not looking the least bit hurried which pissed him off-his daughter could be dying!-but he didn’t want to cause a scene so he complied with her instructions. Luckily there wasn’t many people waiting with them so he didn’t feel bad pacing the waiting room with Sunni still attempting to calm her with no level of success. 

Ten minutes later, a nurse called for “Shin, Sunni!” which had Hoseok nearly tripping over his feet to rush to her. She lead them to a small office where she took Sunni from his arms seemingly magnifying her screams once she realized her father wasn’t holding her anymore but didn’t deter the nurse from taking her weight, her temperature, and other duties while Hoseok watched on feeling useless. When she was finally done he didn’t even ask before scooping his daughter up again and trying to comfort her barely hearing the nurse explain she’d be back with a doctor in tow. What seemed like seconds later, the nurse and a shorter smiling woman entered the room introduced herself as Dr. Pim.

“Do you mind if I examine her for a second look? Just to make sure of a hunch.” While the doctor looked rather young, her voice was firm and held her true age and experience which relaxed Hoseok just a bit to nod. He reluctantly handed back over the infant and watched as she talked lowly to the squalling Sunni telling her that she was so sorry she was feeling badly and that she promised to help her feel better. The talk soothed both Shin’s so while Sunni still cried, it wasn’t as heartbreaking as before and her father felt hope start building in his chest. 

After a few more minutes of soft talking and examining what looked to be every crevice of the infant she turned back to him. “Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that I know what’s wrong and it’s not terribly serious.” Hoseok let out a whoosh of air at that news before remembering that there was something bad tacked on. “The bad news is that she’s got an ear infection, possibly brought on from the flu hanging in the air.” And there the bad news was causing him to nearly choke on nothing. 

“An ear infection? From the flu?! How would-? I don’t even have the flu! How would she have gotten it?” Hoseok rambled heartbroken over the fact that he might have invariably gotten his daughter sick. Dr. Pim just gave him a consoling smile as she handed his daughter back to him and took off gloves he hadn’t noticed she’d been wearing. 

“Babies and toddlers are more susceptible to airborne pathogens-diseases-and can easily contract them even with vaccines. My guess is that she might have either gotten a touch of it at her daycare, or even while you two were out and about and none the wiser. It’s no one’s fault, Hoseok-ssi. Well, it’s the disease’s if you really want to blame something.” she tried to joke but it fell flat to him since in Hoseok’s mind he was thinking of all the stuff he’d done with Sunn where she might’ve gotten in contact with the flu. His daughter had, thankfully, finally fallen asleep mostly likely tired from all her crying and the stress of the day, and it was barely five! 

“Unfortunately we don’t have the antibiotics for your daughter’s age on hand. I can give you a little bit of medicine now to help with the symptoms but you’ll have to pick up the prescription from the hospital next door. I’ve already asked Mei to fax it over so once you’re done here, you should be able to go over and pick it up no problem, Hoseok-ssi.” She spoke so calmly and with such understanding that Hoseok felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes causing him to furiously wipe them away with a free hand. It wasn’t that he had a problem with someone seeing him cry, he honestly never saw the problem with that anyhow, but that he didn’t want the extra movement to wake his baby. 

“Th-thank you,  Seonbae-nim , for ev-everything!” he stuttered out bowing properly towards her kicking himself since he couldn’t remember if he’d done so before. The doctor chuckled and gave a small bow back explaining that she didn’t need thanks (“Despite the bleak news, Sunni-ya has been my best patient all day!”), and that the sooner he goes and picks up the medication, the sooner he can get his daughter home and she can get well. Which of course was the right thing to kick Hoseok into gear and bundle his sleepy girl back up and go. 

=

=

After handling the payment and walking out the clinic, Hoseok rejected the idea of driving a little less than a minute to the next building and opted instead to walk. It had an added bonus of him not having to strap his tired Sunni into her car seat which could possibly wake her but also some alone time for him to apologize to her. “Daddy is so sorry Su-Su, you must’ve been feeling bad all day and I never realized. But we’re going to get you everything you need to get better, yeah?” he spoke softly to her feeling the slight weight of the note from the doctor of added items he could get from any corner store to help speed up her recovery. Which he was going to definitely buy once he settled at the pharmacy; he didn’t want his daughter feeling terrible any longer than she had to!  

They made it to the hospital in record time (considering he stopped every so often to adjust his precious bundle or widely avoided anyone walking in their opposite direction) and was directed to the third floor which was apparently the pediatric ward. Once they arrived, he followed the signs and arrows leading him to the appropriate desk and nurse showing them the letterhead from the clinic along with Dr. Pim’s note. Thankfully this nurse was in much better spirits than Mei who smiled widely and cooed sympathetically towards his sleeping beauty and instructed that he take a seat while they finished up the order. Just like in the clinic, the waiting room was sparse with one guy sitting in a rubber ducky yellow plastic chair absorbed in his phone with an earbud placed in one ear. Trying not to be weird, he took the seat-a blue elephant-across from him and took note of the room. He’d just moved to this part of town and had yet to set up a primary care for himself or Sunni, but so far he very much liked what he saw. 

The waiting room had the essential children’s toys waiting on tables and in boxes for little kids to play with while they waited for check-ups and a rather large television mounted on the wall protected against sticky fingers streaming what he thinks were the Backyardigans. Though he might be wrong since according to Hyungwon it was all about Little Einsteins and that no one under thirty remembered Backyardigans. Which screw him, that show had been great! But the color and music rather reminded him of the old-classic dammit-show so maybe it was a spin off? Hoseok briefly looked over at the nurses station where there was now no one seated over there which was good because he felt awkward just imagining going over there and asking which cartoon this was. He was brought from his thoughts by the a loud curse bringing his attention to the only other guy there who was frowning at his phone and pulling out his earphones when he caught Hoseok’s stare and promptly flushed scarlet while his eyes widened. 

“I am so, so sorry! I didn’t mean to-and your baby’s asleep-and I was-” Hoseok really didn’t mean to laugh but combined with the deep voice and his obvious panic, the guy was just so...would it be weird to say he was remin puppy? His wide eyes were a pretty shade of brown that somehow reminded him of Fall and his lighter brown shaded hair was parted in a way that left a bang hanging over his right eye giving him a sort of lost look. Plus he was also still pink from embarrassment and trying to abstain from looking directly at Hoseok which the father found hilariously adorable. 

“It’s fine, I think with all the stress from today, not even a bullet train could wake her now.” he hedged giving Sunni a light pat on her back while his smile dimmed remembering why she was so tired. The realisation of where they were also apparently caught up to the other man who went back to stammering apologies and chair bows while the father laughed and again waved them away. 

“So, not to be nosy or anything, what brought you here tonight?” he asked restraining himself from looking around for a hidden child previously unnoticed. The other let out a brief chuckle probably seeing Hoseok’s restraint before wrapping up his headphones. “Besides the great atmosphere? I’m picking up my roommate so we can walk home.” he stated causing the father to coo that it was nice of him leaving the other flustered again and trying to appear nonchalant. Gah, so cute! They chatted like this for another few minutes before a voice on the PA system explained that the children’s wing was closing soon and squeaking sneakers heralded the arrival of the nurse from earlier though with a new snapback covering his black hair and two bags in hand. Hoseok stood along with his new friend since it appeared he was heading in their direction. 

“So sorry for the long wait! Here’s Sunni-ya’s medicine and applicators, all the instructions are typed out and if you have any questions you can always come back and we’ll help, sir.” the young nurse gave a dimpled grin before bowing and handing over the smaller plastic bag to him. Hoseok beamed and bowed back relieved and gracious grabbing it and hiking Sunni up higher on his shoulder so it wouldn’t accidentally disturb her. 

“No, thank you so much! I’m sorry for keeping you here so late!” he exclaimed sheepishly remembering the announcement. The nurse, Jooheon according to his badge, brushed it away with a scoff taking a pair of sneakers out of his second bag. “Please, that wasn’t your fault! Like I said, it’s mine for taking so long with your stuff. Besides,” he took his friend’s previously occupied seat and began trading his white nurse shoes for streetwear, “we’re a hospital. It should be common knowledge that we never close on time!” Jooheon laughed placing the shoes and his lanyard in the bag before finally noticing his friend. “Changkyun-ah! How long have you been waiting here?!” 

“Oh! So that’s your name!” Hoseok thought aloud looking at pup-Changkyun who had once again been reduced to flustering but now didn’t know which person to look at first. Jooheon for the most part looked surprised for all of three seconds before a mischievous grin widened across his face as his friend tried making excuses. 

“Shame on you, Lim Changkyun for not introducing yourself! Tsk, do you want me to tell your eomma how rude you’re being?” he said mock seriously standing up and placing his hands on his hips. Changkyun mumbled a surprisingly dirty response which had Hoseok give a surprised shout of laughter startling his daughter who started whimpering. Immediately he began rubbing her back consolingly and making shushing sounds to and noticed some movement out the corner of his eye but kept most of his attention on his daughter. 

“Oh s-sorry! We’ll just go and stop bothering you!” Changkyun apologized once more and grabbed Jooheon’s wrist pulling him away from the pair but not before he could turn back and say, “Bye Sunni-ya’s dad!” Hoseok couldn’t hear what the other man was telling him since his friend’s cackling covered up but from the color covering his face and his frantic hand movements he could take a good guess. 

So cute. 


	2. Things?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second encounter leaves Hoseok wondering if the universe is really that bored  
> And Hyungwon is The Worst, but he already knew that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone~!  
> I know I said I would usually post every other Wed or Fri but all of your hits and kudos and comments really hit me in a special place. So much so that I dug in and worked on this chapter just for you! WellImean, all the chapters are technically for you...but you get what I mean! x3  
> BTW.DID.Y'ALL.SEE.IM'S.FLY.AWAY.WITH.ME.MV.LIKE.MY.LIFE.UPGRADED.MY.WIG.WAS.SNATCHED.MY.EDGES.GREW.BACK.MY.SOUL.WAS.PURIFIED.  
> Sidenote, if anyone could tell me how to stop my note from the first chapter from somehow applying itself to all my others, that'dbegreat.

“It was so embarrassing! And then when Minhyuk-hyung started in I had to practically barricade myself in the bathroom just so they couldn’t keep following me! Even then it'd been a near thing!” Changkyun complained into the phone, completely not seeing why his dad was still laughing at his predicament.

 _“Ah, it’s a friend’s responsibility to embarrass one another when their parents aren’t there to do it for them. You should be happy you have such friends!”_ Kwain responded much to his son’s chagrin.

“Maybe I should get better friends.” he grumbled both knowing he didn’t mean it. As much as they annoyed him, or even babied him in the older’s case, he would be lost without them. Homeless too come to think of it. Finding an apartment relatively close to his jobs and a simple bus ride back to his dad’s had been nearly impossible, especially on his meager budget. That was why he’d be forever grateful for Jooheon and his boyfriend offering to share their limited space for a small share of expenses. As well as a home cooked meal every once in a while. He may not become a chef any day soon, but at least he couldn’t poison them with ramyun.

_“Changkyun? Are you still there? I haven’t muted you again, have I?”_

Changkyun hastily answered explaining that he’d gotten lost inside his mind again to which his father laughed, all too familiar with his son’s behaviors. The two talked on the phone a little while longer about nothing until the son noticed the time. “Dad I gotta get going so I’m not late to work. I’ll see you Sunday, ok?”

_“You know, you don’t have to visit every week you know. I know you must be busy with other-”_

“Wow dad, if you didn’t want me over you could’ve just said so.” Changkyun interrupted with a forced laugh while nervously rubbing his chest.  

 _“Now you know that’s not what I’m saying! Ah, just be sure to wear loose pants; Seokjin-ssi seems to think you’re starving now that he’s not there to feed you.”_ Kwain chuckled over his son’s exasperated sigh before saying goodbye and hanging up. It was probably silly and childish that Changkyun kept wanting to go home nearly every weekend since moving out. Most people his age would be living it up not having to be stuck at home, but he couldn’t help being worried that something would happen to his dad now that he wasn’t there. Jin-hyung was great and he’d be forever grateful for him and his skills but as bad as it might sound, he just wasn’t family. Some days it would seem like his dad forgot he actually needed his wheelchair and would try to do something extra and on those he was afraid he’d accidentally hurt himself. He sighed and decided to just focus on getting ready for work; as much as he disliked having to actually dress up, working at the restaurant generated enough tips for him to suck it up. Once he was ready and had Boo settled in her cage, he locked up the apartment and started his trek to work.

While walking he did a mental catalog of what was in the fridge and what meals one could make with it. He was pretty sure there was a package of tteokbokki noodles that needed cooking and it was a relatively simple dish that could be filling, especially if he used up some of the leftover take out. Plus it would be something other than pizza which he was starting to get real sick of. Minhyuk could apparently live off the dish and be happy and Jooheon would just be happy his boyfriend was happy while Changkyun would be the one having to listen to him grumble about their kisses tasting garlicky which was gross and sort of spicy at the same time…”Ah, I know way too much about those two!” Changkyun grumbled to himself as he wiped his eyes, as if that would help scour the memory from his mind. The things he could never unsee, all the chairs and desks he could never look at the same. As bad as it all seemed, he was willing to bet their poor dog had seen worse. No wonder Boo seemed to regularly join him on the pull-out couch. Despite how grateful he was for them and how much he genuinely enjoyed their company, he really couldn’t wait until he had graduated and was making enough money to officially live on his own. He just had to take it one day at a time. When he finally reached the restaurant Changkyun realized he only had about two minutes before he’d be considered late and rushed inside to clock in barely acknowledging his coworkers as they greeted him. He’d thought luck was on his side for once when he didn’t spot his usual manager already breathing down his neck as he tied on his busboy apron but of course he was wrong.

“Lim! There are already three tables that need your attention. We’re about to have a lunch rush there’s no time for slacking.” The manager spoke loudly and condescendingly towards Changkyun but he was used to it and merely kept his mouth shut and started working.

=

=

“Hello Sunni-ya~! Did you miss your favorite oppa?”

“Stop making my daughter call you ‘oppa’ you creep!” Hoseok yelled from the bedroom where he was getting dressed. Hyungwon tch’d and just ignored his friend continuing to make small talk with his goddaughter as he looked around the new apartment. He had helped the single father move in just a few weeks prior and although it still looked like a hurricane and run its course, he could see the beginnings of organization. The playpen was already set up as the focal point of the living room with the couch and television settled around it. There were baby clothes strewn around it and on top of the coffee table along with nappies (thankfully clean ones) and wipes containers. The couch and matching armchair was settled against the wall offering a big enough space to walk around along with the window giving off natural bright light. All in all Hyungwon had thought it’d be worse than it was. “Sunni-ya, why is your daddy taking so long to get dressed, hm? Is there someone your Hyungwon-oppa should know about?” he asked the infant who merely smiled her two teeth gleaming as she babbled her answers. “Oh? What else?” Hoseok chose that moment to stride into the living room in his casual attire of ripped jeans and an oversized t-shirt with a bright orange hoodie hanging in his hand. “She’s saying stop making her call you oppa you-”

“Remember who’s paying for lunch today.”

“-handsome charming man, is that a new coat? Stunning.” Hoseok easily waylaid with a cheery fake grin which his friend responded in kind. The father really did appreciate his friend for coming over and offering to take him out since he had been admittedly going stir crazy. The ear infection had definitely taken its toll on both Shin’s with numerous sleepless nights; mainly Hoseok caring and consoling his crying daughter as well as almost obsessively checking up on her once she was asleep to make sure she was still breathing. He’d read that some cough medicine had an effect on infants that caused sleep apnea and death and even though she hadn’t been prescribed a cough medicine, he had been hyper aware of almost every breath his daughter took. Hyungwon had come by on day five of his self-imposed quarantine toting coffee and a new stuffed plushy for his goddaughter with the intent to spend time indoors with the pair, but once he saw how pale both had become due to lack of sunlight, he’d immediately changed courses and ordered that they get dressed for a lunch out. “You’re going to scare the kids at your job if you go back looking like fucking Casper.” he’d told Hoseok who’d merely grumbled something to the effect of “don’t curse around my daughter you asshole.” But he agreed that a day out was definitely needed. Plus he would definitely need the strength once he returned to his job as a youth dance instructor at his friend’s studio. For some reason the kids had taken one look at him and decided he’d make an excellent jungle gym and he’d been too polite (and just a little bit scared) to push them away so now it was a regular occurrence before class started. It had definitely helped his self confidence since he’d been worried that the kids wouldn’t like him when he started and now it was his favorite part of work.

“Please tell me you are not going in public, with me, looking like fu-freaking Naruto.” Hyungwon barely amended still glaring at the offensive orange hoodie.

“Believe it.” Hoseok replied pulling it on with a grin while his friend scoffed. “You know I get cold easily and this was the only one that was clean.” he explained with an easy shrug. Hyungwon sighed and admitted that he’d rather see him as Fighting Dreamers than settle for whatever unwashed thing he had on hand. “I just feel so sorry for Sunni having to grow up knowing her daddy’s a weeb.” Hyungwon said breezily with a smirk as he stood up from the couch with Sunni in his arms.  Hoseok ignored him and took his daughter from him giving her multiple kisses to her face feeling his entire chest warm at her giggles before grabbing her fold up pram by the door. “Don’t listen to your silly uncle, Su-Su. He still cries at the end of Sprited Away.” Hyungwon made an affronted noise in the background

“So do you asshole!”

“Hey! Watch your fucking language!” 

=

=

Changkyun was usually the model of cool, calm, and collected but as of the third hour of his shift blended into the fourth and he still hadn’t has so much of a pee break, he was sure eve Gandhi would snap eventually. He had gotten to work about an hour before the usual lunch madhouse that usually tapered around two o’clock. No such luck today since apparently mister wannabe-manager-of-the-year had booked two separate large parties, both in Changkyun’s section. With only himself and two other waitstaff to serve twenty plus people it was understandably a complete fustercluck. He had just finished clearing away a table near the front with the inevitable happened and one of the waitresses slipped on her way to the kitchen, thankfully only holding an empty stainless steel water pitcher which clanged on the ground along with her. He along with a few others went to her aid  but was stopped before he could help her into the kitchen by the manager. He interjected that only one person was needed to help her and while she was indisposed Changkyun would have to take over her tables. He almost thought about protesting but knew that it wouldn’t do any good (plus an insubordination sticker in his folder like he needed anymore problems) so he sucked it up and grabbed the fallen girl’s tablet with all her tables’ information on it and got started. If speaking in technical terms, Changkyun was shy with a side of mild social anxiety. Non-technical, he was a hot mess when it came to public speaking. At his other job as a barista, the only talking he had to do was ask which name went on which cups or to tell the morning shift manager if they were low on something. And at his weekend bookstore job he rarely had to speak and instead usually spent hours either cataloguing books or rearranging misplaced items. He could already feel his palms becoming slick with perspiration from just asking people if they needed anything or to top off their drinks. There were only a few minor mishaps in where he almost gave the wrong table another’s meal (thank goodness he remembered the old woman had special ordered!) and another table where he poured tea into someone’s water glass but he felt that all considering, he was doing a decent job He should’ve known it wouldn’t last.

“Good afternoon, my name is Changkyun and I’ll be your server for today. Can I get your drinks and start you on an appetizer?” Changkyun’s gaze barely rose over the edge of the tablet so all he noticed was something blindingly bright.

“I didn’t know you worked here, Changkyun-ssi!” the young man’s eyes bugged out as he looked up into the bright smiling face of the father that had been highlight of his friend’s week along with his adorable daughter gurgling in his arms.

“Su-Sunni’s dad! I mean! Um, hi?” Changkyun garbled out still relatively stunned by the turn of events as the other laughed loudly while his companion gave him a once over. He felt himself flush since holy hell there was a catwalk somewhere calling this guy’s name. He was only dressed in a casual dark blue button up with a distressed denim jacket (which was so unfair that he could actually pull off a denim jacket!), the type of outfit that looked like it could belong in anyone’s closet but he wore it like it was made just for him. His jawline made Changkyun want to cry with how perfect it looked and combining that with his hooded eyes and thick lips made him wonder why he even got out of bed that morning. It was just. So cruel that the world could create someone like this. Though that being said, it should be practically criminal to make someone like the man he’d already met. He had idol level good looks: great skin, perfect jawline, cheekbones that could literally tear families apart, even his freaking nose was perfect! Having these two men, specimens really, in his section was clearly a sign that something wasn’t right. He was willing to bet if he looked over at his fellow server, he’d see her practically throttling him with her stare for getting such handsome customers. If he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble he’d tell her, have at ‘em!

“-ah! Kyun-ah!” Changkyun came back from his thoughts to see both men looking at him expectantly. “I-I’m so sorry, what was it you needed?”

“The girl upfront never brought us a highchair, could you please grab one for us?” Sunni’s dad (did he dare learn the man’s name?) asked politely with his grin still present.

“Yes! Sure! I’ll go do that now. Um, be right back!” he bowed to them both still flustered before rushing off not catching the look and consequent smirk sent his way.

=

=

Hoseok was still beaming from the pleasant surprise he’d been gifted, not imagining that he would see Changkyun so soon again. Plus the puppy looked so adorable in his waiter uniform that he almost had him squealing. Not many people could pull off the skinny tie but Changkyun had done it with ease, plus his constant blushing was really just too much he had to know how adorable that made him look. He noticed that Hyungwon was staring at him for some reason and waved his hand in his face, amused. “Hello? Get lost looking at my charming face?” His friend didn’t react to his joke and instead gave him a pensive look. “Who’s Changkyun?” Hoseok blinked in surprise. “He’s this guy I met the other day, you know when I took Su-Su to the clinic. I didn’t tell you about him?” Hyungwon placed his elbows on the table interlocking his fingers and rest his chin on the chain giving his friend a the consummate “cat that caught the canary” look. “No, and why would you. Is he someone special?” Shit. He’d walked right into that trap.

“I mean, he’s the first person I’ve met here besides Hoseok?” he had no idea why he said it like a question, or why it felt like he was walking deeper into a trap. As his friend’s smirk widened he concluded that yup, definitely a trap.

“That’s funny because you brought him up right after Hyunwoo introduced you two, but it’s been five days and this is the first time I’m hearing about, what was it? ‘Kyun-ah’?” Hyungwon added teeth to his grin adding to his cat look making Hoseok twitch.

“Su-Su was sick.” he excused with a mumble looking anywhere but at his friend.

“You’ve sent me and your mom daily selfies nearly twice a day, try again.”

“How the f-! How did you know I sent my mom selfies!?” Hoseok asked in curious horror.

“You added me in a group chat and forgot to take me out.” What. The hell. His words about that being creepy AF were swallowed by Changkyun returning with the requested highchair which hot damn, those scrawny arms weren’t so scrawny.

“Sorry it took so long, I didn’t know where they kept ones for babies Sunni-ya’s size.” Changkyun apologized bowing again obviously nervous.

“Ah, don’t worry about that Kyu-I mean Changkyun-ssi! At least you found it.” Hoseok praised him with another grin mooning over the shy and gracious smile he was graced with. And ignoring the knowing smirk Hyungwon was sending him by placing his daughter into the highchair. Please, God, just let them get through lunch and back to his apartment before he said anything.

“So what can I get started for you gentleman?”

After the awkward first-or rather second-encounter and a round of actual introductions (Hyungwon the bitch had cackled when Hoseok had finally depicted how they met), the rest of their lunch went smoothly. Both Hoseok and Hyungwon were amused when Changkyun admitted to them why he was waiting on them instead of his usual job (while simultaneously feeling bad for the other server) and gratified to see him loosening up around them. Hoseok of course spent most of the time avoiding his friend’s knowing looks or just flat out denying them up until the puppy returned with their rather large order (he had a big appetite ok!) and was struggling with the large platter. He had immediately jumped from his seat to the rescue taking the large platter from Changkyun, who true to form stuttered out anxiously that he didn’t need to do that which Hoseok obviously ignored before sighing and going along with it. When he left, both Shin’s eagerly dug into their food (though with Sunni that was maybe a tad too literal) but it didn’t stop Hoseok from noticing Hyungwon’s stare and groaning. “Alright! You maybe, sorta have a point.” he grumbled mutinously stabbing his noodles and then apologizing because it wasn’t their fault he was friends with a jerk who was grinning as if he’d won a lotto. They continued like this all through the meal though now with every new encounter with Changkyun, Hoseok felt himself clamming up and becoming awkward. Hyungwon might’ve had a point on why he wasn’t mentioned before but so did Hoseok when he said it didn’t mean anything. Changkyun had just been a friendly face at a bad time, so why should he be forced to explain it? This however didn’t stop him from practically pushing their group out of the restaurant once they’d paid.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. You obviously like him some sort of way for you not to have mentioned him.” Hyungwon said when they were barely a few steps away from the restaurant causing Hoseok to groan.

“You’re right, it’s not a big deal so stop acting like it is!” he finally snapped. He instantly felt bad for it though once Hyungwon’s head drooped with guilt. “Sorry, but seriously it was no big thing.”

“Hoseok-ssi!”

Both men turned around at the shout to see Changkyun jogging over towards them with little huffs.

“Hoseok-ssi! You nearly forgot your bag!” Changkyun offered up the pink and blue galaxy diaper bag that Hoseok was just then realizing he actually didn’t have wrapped around his chest. “Wow, thanks Kyun-ah! It would’ve sucked going all the way home and then realized it was missing.” Hoseok commented with a laugh after taking the bag with a bow. Changkyun, finally without a stutter, waved away the praise with a bashful grin before parting from them again to jog back to work. When Hoseok turned back around, Hyungwon’s smug face was the first thing he saw causing him to scowl before realizing he’d been grinning like an idiot the entire interaction with the puppy. “Oh shit, it might be a thing.”


	3. This Is Really Becoming An Issue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a short glimpse into the natural habi-erm, daily lives of Hoseok and Changkyun

As expected, the moment Hoseok entered the dancing studio every child’s head turned and their mouths emitted shrieks he was sure the astronauts in space could hear before they were clinging and piling onto him. Some were explaining how much he’d been missed, others told him what had been missed and a small few admitted to actually being afraid that he wouldn’t come back. 

“What?! And never dance with you guys again?! Ah, that makes me so sad to even think about!” he pouted raising a first to the corner of his eye to wipe away his fake tears. At once the shouting became even worse and melded together all basically saying the same thing of “we didn’t mean it like!” or “please don’t cry Hoseok-seonsaeng!” After reassuring them that he wasn’t actually crying and that he was really fine he told them why he hadn’t come by in a while and then he was literally up to his ears (he didn’t even know when that kid had climbed up his back) with support for his daughter. He might’ve had to really wipe an actual tear away before it fell and hid the action at the combined “fighting Sunni!” that came his way. 

Thankfully he was saved by his boss Hyunwoo coming around clapping his hands telling the kids to get to their respective dance rooms because classes would start any minute. At once the children jumped off of him and eagerly went to the children sized dance room designated for them and Hoseok gave his friend a grateful smile. 

“Thanks hyung, I forgot how strong they are!” he said stretching out his arms. 

“It was no problem, I’m just glad you’re back and that your daughter is feeling better. They were really running poor Hobi ragged while you were away.” Both men shared a laugh and a mild shudder at that statement knowing how high strung the third dance instructor could be. If the kids had run the bottomless pit of energy ragged then there was almost no hope for Hoseok. Hyunwoo only offered a conciliatory shoulder pat before walking off to his own adult classes. The studio was split into four main groups: the beginners/children’s group, the intermediate/teenage group, the adult group, and the newer trainee groups. Hyunwoo’s girlfriend had gotten them a contract with an entertainment business who now either sent their trainees over to them or they in turn sent an instructor to them. Currently, Jihyun was out of town with one of the trainee groups who were about to debut. This was huge in terms of business but it was known how much Hyunwoo missed his partner, especially at times when he would seemingly turn to talk to her and would deflate remembering she wasn’t there. Thankfully this was her last week away and unbeknownst to her, the men would be throwing her a welcome back party at her favorite grill that upcoming Saturday. But until then, there was work to do and dance steps to learn. Hoseok rubbed his hands together gleefully as he entered his own studio.

“Ok my little monsters! Show me what you’ve done so far!”

 

==

==

 

Changkyun wouldn’t call himself a “genius” because he wasn’t. Not really. Some things sort of clicked for him better and faster in comparison to others but that didn’t make him smarter in his opinion, it just made him observant. So when Kihyun offered to come over to the apartment and make lunch, he was smart enough to realize that he’d been listening to Minhyuk’s gossip and wanted to come see for himself. Changkyun knew he could easily put a stop to any of his friend’s assumptions since out of all of them Kihyun was the most level headed (when not angry or provoked that is), but he was smart enough to not turn down a free meal. It was a rare day where he wasn’t scheduled at the restaurant or bookstore and he’d just gotten home from his early morning shift at Lava Java so not only was he free the rest of the day to do his schoolwork, he was also getting fed. He was working some homework on the floor of the living room when Kihyun came knocking on the door with his hands filled with plastic bags telling that if he wasn’t busy then he was to help him in the kitchen. Changkyun figured he could put off his homework a little while longer and went to follow him. He was immediately handed a bowl with eggs already cracked in it and told to scramble them while the other started pulling out other foods.

“Oo, is that seaweed?” Kihyun gave a hum in response while he rifled through the cabinets with practiced ease pulling out a pan for the meat and vegetables and pot for the rice and kimchi. “I thought I’d make us some gimbap; the weather’s so nice out today that I felt like it was warranted.” he elaborated with a small grin. “Plus I need pictures of home food preparation for a portfolio I’m putting together and needed a model.” Kihyun added airly which caused Changkyun to scoff loudly as he beat the eggs. 

“And your first choice was me? Doesn’t your boss date an actual model? Couldn’t you have asked him?” The elder not-so-gently flicked his younger’s forehead causing them to yelp and nearly spill the egg mixture. “First of all, Jinyoung isn’t a model and second, don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re great and of course you were my first choice. Who else was I going to ask? Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber? It’d turn X rated before I could even get my camera out.” Kihyun growled in annoyance aggressively mixing the stirfry. Changkyun shuddered at the imagery presented to him and just went back to the eggs. He figured he would be desensitized to some of the things Minhyuk and Jooheon got up to but then they would turn around surprise him in the worst of ways. He didn’t blame Kihyun at all, although he was still dubious as to why he of all people was chosen as a “model.”

They continued cooking in comfortable silence only breaking it with light conversation (“Have you met the elusive night stocker?” “No, but I feel like I’m getting closer with the sticky notes though.”) and with the sizzle, pop, or maniacal laughter of Changkyun as he got to slice various foods. It was only when they were rolling the gimbap did Kihyun finally bring up the obvious.

“So, what’s the deal with this guy you keep running into? The way Minhyuk tells it, he’s either a man on a mission for your heart or a stalker. And in my opinion both sound hella creepy, so spill.” Changkyun sighed but at least he’d been expecting this sooner or later.

“It’s really nothing, hyung. We made small talk at the hospital Jooheon’s volunteering at while his daughter was getting medicine and then he just happened to come and eat at the restaurant. There’s really nothing to it.”  _ Please leave it at that, please leave it at that, please- _

“A daughter?! Just how old is this guy?!” Kihyun sputtered out in surprise before his eyes narrowed in steely anger. “Is Minhyuk trying to pimp you out to some old geezer with a sugar baby fetish? I swear to God I will fucking rip his goddamn intestines out with a tweezer, his good tweezers just to really piss him off-”

“Ohmygod, no! He-he’s not old! Well, not like, old geezer old, but older than me? He’s like...Jin-hyung’s age. Maybe even a bit younger really.” Changkyun instantly pacified his friend knowing he could go off on one of his angry tangents for a while if not stopped early. Plus he really didn’t want to know all the disgusting, but creative, ways he could disembowel his roommates in front of delicious food. Kihyun was still a bit huffy but he at least brought his cursing back to just mumbles as he began slicing the gimbap he’d rolled. 

“I just don’t want you taken advantage of, Kyunnie. You’re smart and all, but there’s some real weirdos out there and I just want to know you’re safe. That’s all.” Changkyun didn’t even bother hiding his grin while his hyung huffed more out of embarrassment than anger now and tried to avoid his gaze with his pink cheeks nearly matching his hair. 

“Aww, hyung, you’re so sweet and fluffy~!”

“Ya! Are you implying that I’m chubby?! Kyunnie, are you trying to tell the person who’s slaved over a stove for your food that they’re chubby?!”

“N-no, hyung! I swear! Please don’t take the food away! I’ll literally die if I have to eat pizza again!”

\--

Some time later once they had eaten their fill and put the leftovers in the fridge for Changkyun’s roommates, the pair were sitting on the couch clicking through Netflix to find something to watch when Kihyun made a sudden noise.

“Oh! That reminds me, you know my sister, Jihyun? She’s been out of town the past few weeks but she’s been texting me that she’s coming back early and invited us to her surprise party this weekend.” Changkyun looked over at his friend with a confused expression.

“How could she invite us to her surprise party if it’s supposed to be a  _ surprise _ party?” Kihyun snickered as he finally settled on a classic older drama before responding.

“You know how she is, always in the know. Plus she said her boyfriend was being, I quote, ‘endearingly obvious about it,’ ick. It’s going to be at that grill you’ve been wanting to try, and it would do you good to go somewhere other than here, the library, and work.” he replied with a pointed look to his younger friend, who merely grumbled as he hugged a pillow to his chest that he also sometimes went to the park. Not to socialize because that would be creepy, but just sorta be. He especially liked it when it’s threatening to rain with overcast and some winds because it would be mostly empty and it felt like he could almost breathe in peace. But he had a feeling if he told his friend that he’d go into Mega Parent Mode and the last time that happened was when he accidentally fell asleep at the library and his phone died so none of his friends could contact him. By the time he’d finally made it back to the apartment, Kihyun already had fliers and a search group organized and even once it was all over he’d sorta hovered around him for nearly a week after. Not even mentioning the two hour lecture he’d endured. 

“I’ll see if I’m working that night and if I am, I’ll try to switch shifts. There’s a few people who I owe me some favors.” Changkyun finally said while Kihyun huffed that there was probably more than a few and he was just being nice which was stupid but adorable. He’s pretty sure that would be his call sign if Kihyun had his way about it.

==

==

Saturday afternoon was  bright and crisp with the air starting to become chilly from Fall and Hoseok trying to decide which bow matched better with Sunni’s dress. He was thankfully already dressed in what he calls comfy casual (or what Hyungwon would call lazy hermit) consisting of his usual black skinny jeans with worn holes at the knees, a black button up tucked into the pants, his favorite Sgt. Frog watch, and his usual piercings with only one dangling earring on his left ear. Sunni was conversely dressed in a lilac dress with a small ruffle at the bottom and bunny motifs hopping around the hem as well as bunny snap buttons on the back. He hadn’t wanted to take any chances so she was also wearing off-white tights and her cute pale pink mary janes. Hoseok’s issue however came in the decision of whether to have her hair clipped back with an adorable silky white bunny bow clip (to match the design) or an equally adorable lilac bow clip (to match the dress). His instincts were leaning towards the bunny clip but he had a feeling that too much bunny would ruin the whole effect. Then again he could argue that there was really never  _ too _ much bunny but finally settled on the lilac bow because he remembered his daughter was starting her undressing phase. She could now pull off her socks, bows, and even her pants if she tried hard enough and he would be heartbroken if she lost the cute bunny clip before being able to fully appreciate it. 

So once the Bow Crisis was averted, he slipped on their jackets and strapped Sunni into her walker and finally set course. The grill he was to meet the others at was luckily not too far from his apartment so even with the cool weather, he didn’t feel the need to actually drive over. When they arrived he could instantly hear Hobi’s infectious laughter and when he turned in its direction spotted dozens of sparkly balloons seated around a grill table (far away from the fire top thankfully) with Hobi and Hyungwon already in attendance meaning Hyunwoo must’ve already left to fetch the guest of honor. Hoseok waved and happily strolled over to the pair who made room for him and his daughter.

“Hoseokkie!~ You made it just before the others!” Hobi informed him before making grabby hands at Sunni who screeched and giggled also reaching for him. The father handed her over with a puzzled look on his face. “‘Others’? Who else is coming?”

“Uh, I think Hyunwoo said her brother and his companion was coming by. Or at least, that’s how it sounded.” Hyunwon laughed his eyes crinkling behind the round glasses he’d decided to wear. 

“Hyunwoo hyung has to be the only person under forty who still uses words like ‘companion’ with a completely straight face.” he commented the other two men laughing in agreement. The three men talked amongst themselves and cooed over Hoseok’s sweet daughter for a few more minutes before a hostess guided a pair of young men over to their table, one of which he definitely recognized.

“Ky-Kyun-ah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO Soso sorry for the late reply! I've been up to my ears in essays and reports and I just! Lost track of time. But it's here! And it's not as good as I wanted it to be but it's here! And with a plot point I hadn't even thought to do! Hurrah! *sarcasm abundance*


	4. Stirring the Pot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the plot finally thickens!!

Jooheon was still staring in disbelief while Minhyuk’s face was starting to become that cotton candy pink color he got when he was truly upset and Kihyun...honestly Changkyun had no idea where the other went. Jooheon opened and closed his mouth a few times with no sounds and after the third try finally vocalized something. “Could you..wait... _ what the fuck did they say? _ ” Changkyun sighed already feeling low since his firing and only feeling worse each time he had to explain it which he’d done nearly five times by now due to his concerned friends and family.

“He said that he was tired of me being unreliable and acting like I was too good to work there just because-”

“Just because you are and he’s a giant sack of STD riddle cum doesn’t mean he has the right to fire you Changkyun-ah!” He rolled his eyes at Kihyun’s angry yell melting back into Minhyuk’s warm embrace on the couch while his boyfriend got up to start pacing with their shorter friend. 

Changkyun unhappily thought back to the last few hours when he first left the apartment to go to his job at the restaurant only to be summoned to the back office almost immediately. His supervisor had told him that they had done a surprise inspection and found him lacking in several areas. The young man had stammered through his apologies and made plea after plea to do better and work harder before the man finally let him have it and sent him away. Not before first making a show of following him to the backroom to watch him take his stuff from his assigned locker. Like he needed an extra dose of embarrassment. With nothing else to do, he had walked back home feeling every bit of a failure wondering how he was going to break it to his roommates when he couldn’t pay his share of the rent. Before he realized, he had been sitting on the couch staring into space for hours until Minhyuk and Jooheon came home from their respective jobs. 

Once they saw him like that it only took a minute for them to call Kihyun which lead to where they were now. Each time he retold the story, Changkyun felt like more and more bricks were layered in his gut. God, how could he have been so useless as to be fired from just cleaning tables? What kind of idiot was he? He must’ve been projecting his thoughts since Minhyuk began nuzzling his cheeks like he sometimes does his toddlers. 

“Ya Kyunie, don’t take to  heart what that bastard told you. You were too good for that place anyway. And their food isn’t even all that good now that I think about it! “ the older man cajoled huddling him closer. It was at rare times like these that Changkyun was thankful for his smaller stature so that he could be cuddled by his hyung like this without it becoming awkward. He felt a warm presence being pressed against his back and knew it was Jooheon since he could still hear Kihyun’s angry pacing. 

“At least you’ve still got your other job Kyu-Kyu. Maybe you could ask about getting more hours now that you’re not being split between the two?” Jooheon suggested resting his chin on his friend’s shoulder. Changkyun thought about it and figured he might be able to stretch maybe one or two more hours from the cafe but most of the people working there were like him, i.e. desperate college students who would take any hour given to them. Since the coffee bar was twenty-four hours they always had hours which was perfect for many college students and since Changyun’s primary school hours were at night, he usually took either the very early morning shift or noon shift one days he hadn’t been scheduled at the restaurant. Well he supposed now that the restaurant wasn’t an option he could perhaps get more. But even with the extra hours it didn’t make up to the salary and tips he had gotten from being a busboy. As demeaning as it felt sometimes, it had paid well which is why he put up with it and his manager for so long. He licked his lips and throat suddenly went dry as he croaked out, “Maybe, but um, guys, I don’t think I’ll much help with the bills and-”

“OhmyGOD Kyunnie! If you think we’d be so heartless as to take your money after today I just, I can’t even believe you’d think that!” Minhyuk exclaimed hotly with his boyfriend agreeing with equally appalled looks. “You focus on getting more hours and we’ll handle the rest and I swear to God if you try and say something about how you’re being a burden I’ll...I’ll...hyung?!” Jooheon turned to his boyfriend for assistance. 

“No League of Legends for two weeks.” Changkyun coughed suddenly and looked up at his surprisingly serious roommate. “Damn hyung, that’s cold.” Minhyuk’s face didn’t change but his eyes visibly warmed as he took his hands to smoosh Changkun’s cheeks. “Well that’s because I don’t like hearing you talk down about yourself Kyu-Kyu so you shouldn’t do it.” Jooheon cooed while Kihyun huffed more in annoyed amusement than true anger. “You know, ‘Changkyun’ is a perfectly nice name. I wish you guys wouldn’t bastardize it so much.”

“Hey, you call me ‘Kyunnie’ all the time too!”

“‘Kyunnie’ is a perfectly acceptable nickname for a maknae like you. Kyu-Kyu and Kyun-nah is just weird, like you’re a character on some kids’ cartoon.” Jooheon frowned at the other in confusion. “Who calls him ‘Kyun-nah?’” Changkyun’s heart started beating furiously in his chest while he could practically feel the heat emanating from the tips of his ears. Seeing his reaction, Minhyuk grinned in unholy glee and pressed him closer before he could even think to get away. Bastard. “Is it who I think it is?!” 

Changkyun said nothing which was basically all the answer that was needed

 

\\\

 

_ “Ky-Kyun-nah!” _

 

_ Changkyun’s eyes widened seeing the familiar faces of Hoseok and his handsome friend Hyung-something, he couldn’t really remember (and clamped shut the voice in his head that reminded him that he remembered Hoseok’s name just fine). He could feel Kihyun stiffen beside him and he was sure it took the man no time at all to come to the all correct assumption that this was the man whom he’d heard all about. _

 

_ “Ah, good afternoon Hoseok-ssi and...um, I’m so sorry I-I forgot your-” _

_ “It’s Hyungwon! And sit! Sorry we’ll make room for you guys.” Hoseok exclaimed shifting over so there would be more room for the two young men. Changkyun never even caught the chance to have a crisis about sitting next to the increasingly familiar man before his hyung slid into the seat without a word and only a look. He took the seat across from him besides Hyungwon-whom he gave an apologetic look to for earlier and who gave him a soft smile in response-and caught a look flash on Hoseok’s face but didn’t see it long enough before his usual grin was back.  _

 

_ // _

 

“Lim Changkyun! How come Kihyun everyone’s gotten to meet your mystery man but me?! How in any of the multiverse worlds is this even fair?!” 

Changkyun was violently brought back to the present by the angry whining of Minhyuk who had apparently been told of their chance meeting last week.

“I-it’s not like we planned it or anything! And he’s not ‘my’ anything! He’s just a regular nice guy. But you probably couldn’t meet him anyway since Kihyun-hyung practically snubbed him the entire time.” He heard the elder make affronted noises from the kitchen causing him to roll his eyes. “I did no such thing! I was perfectly respectable.”

“Hyung, you were rude to him for basically no reason and don’t even get me started on you and his friend!”

Here Jooheon was even starting to look interested in the conversation, abandoning his game with the dog and siddling back up by Minhyuk who looked way too eager. 

“Ooooo, tell us tell us tell us!”

 

\\\

 

_ “Kyun-nah, I didn’t know you knew Jihyun-noona! Wow, such a small world.” Changkyun blushed at the attention suddenly put on him but was (somewhat) thankfully saved by Kihyun. _

 

_ “Actually that would be me. Jihyun is my stepsister and asked me to come and I brought Changkyun along as my plus one.” he answered tonelessly staring down at the menu and missing his younger friend’s confused looks.  _

 

_ “Oh yeah, hyung mentioned you would be coming and bringing somebody along.” the unnamed man at the other end of the table intoned still bouncing Sunni in his arms. _

 

_ “Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even get your-”  _

_ “Nah, it’s ok. If anyone should apologize it’s Hoseok over there not introducing me in the first place.” the man teased his friend who had the graciousness to blush but also laugh at his carelessness.  _

 

_ “He’s right Kyun-nah, the blame is purely with me. You’ve already met Sunni, and the guy holding her is her self-elected uncle, Hoseok. Or Hobi as we call him.” _

 

_ Changkyun blinked in surprise as a small smile flit across his face. “So you’re both named Hoseok? Does that ever get confusing?” Hobi shrugged a little before ultimately shaking his head. _

 

_ “It was at first, especially with the kids at the studio, but since I already went by Hobi it wasn’t too confusing.” he explained before distracting Sunni with a funny face from trying to touch the non-lit grill top.  _

 

_ “Oh, so you’re a dance instructor too, Hoseok-ssi?” Kihyun directed towards the man still without looking at him. Changkyun was starting to become really confused since his friend had really no reason to be acting this rude to the man. Hoseok on his part was either oblivious or nice enough to ignore it.  _

 

_ “Yes, mainly just beginners and children. Do either of you dance? I know we’ve got workshops starting in another few weeks!” he shamelessly advertised with his bright face somehow impossibly becoming brighter. At the thought of seeing them dance or at more revenue Changkyun didn’t know.  _

 

_ “Ah, n-no. I don’t really dance and I’m pretty sure a workshop couldn’t fix that.” Changkyun responded sheepishly grinning and drumming his fingers on the tabletop. They looked expectantly over at Kihyun who only then lifted his face from the menu and didn’t show any surprise to see three pairs of eyes on him. Hoseok looked as though he was going to ask again when his friend beat him to it.  _

 

_ “What about you, Kihyun-ssi? Think dancing would help loosen that stick up your ass?” Hyungwon asked plainly and conversationally while everyone at the table gave him varying looks of distress (Changkyun), confusion (Hobi), annoyance (Hoseok), and animosity (Kihyun).  _

_ Instead of yelling, like Changkyun was afraid he’d do, Kihyun surprisingly offered an innocent smile towards Hyungwon.  _

_ “I honestly don’t know what you mean.” Hyungwon scoffed. _

_ “Don’t play coy, if you really have something to say then by all means say it.” _

_ A glint entered into his hyung’s eyes that made Changkyun nervous and suddenly start looking around for their waitress or maybe finally the arrival of Jihyun and his boyfriend. Unfortunately neither happened for him. _

_ “I’m not playing anything, Hyungwon-ssi. I’m just not that good with small talk. Forgive me if that somehow offends you that someone wouldn’t want to talk to you. Although judging by the way you react to me, it shouldn’t come to that much of a shock.”  _

_ Hoseok was now looking taken aback and-possibly-as anxious as Changkyun now was because while the rest of the table didn’t know it, but he certainly recognized the tone of voice his friend had. It was one that even had Minhyuk double thinking his actions and he knew he had to warn the others somehow before something well and truly went wrong.  _

_ “S-so H-Hobi hyung! You dance to-too? I mean, you teach dance too?” he loudly stammered out trying to turn the tides so to speak. Hobi for the most part looked startled that the attention had somehow fallen onto him but managed to roll with it after a few awkward seconds. _

_ “Ohyes! Yes I uh, I mainly teach the intermediate to advanced groups though, so not much little kids. More teenagers than anything. Oh! Just the other day actually, my group was trying to learn this step that I swear I’ve taught them at least a dozen times before…” _

_ Changkyun kept his head turned towards the other man but allowed his gaze to wander over to his friend to see that the elder was still glaring at Hyungwon. And he was willing to bet that if he had turned his head, the other would be doing the same. Thankfully though, a deity must have felt sorry for them all since Hyunwoo arrived with the guest of honor literally moments before the wait staff arrived with the pre-ordered food and drink.  _

_ // _

 

“Kihhyyyyuuuunnnnnie~! What was all that about?!” Minhyuk yelled out towards the man who had been steadily clanging around the kitchen while Changkyun told his story. 

“There’s nothing to say, I just didn’t like him is all.” Kihyun replied following a loud thud as he began chopping the kimchi. 

“There’s definitely something else if you were really being that mean Kihyunnie!”

“What do you mean ‘if’?! He was being totally rude to the guy!” 

Minhyuk gave Changkyun an overly patient look and sighed like he did with his children at the daycare. “Changkyun you were probably all up that Hoseok guy’s dick anything could’ve seemed rude to you-”

“What THE HELL  HYUNG-”

“And that’s ok! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you show any instance in a dick of any kind that I was starting to become a bit worried! But you know the saying Kyu-kyunie, not all dick is good dick and not all bad dick is good dick. Wait, I think I messed it up again…”

“CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT DICKS FOR FIVE MINUTES PLEASE AND THANK YOU OHMYGOD.”

=

=

Hoseok hung up the phone with his patient smile readily slipping off his face as he gave a loud sigh that might’ve turned into a muffled scream. The daycare he usually dropped Sunni with had warned him that if their owners heard about his abnormal drop-off times that there’d be nothing they could do and he hadn’t listened. They blacklisted him and his daughter from their establishment and now he had to find a temporary or semi-permanent means of babysitting. It wasn’t his fault that his “official” work day didn’t start until nearly three in the afternoon and go until nine! 

Ugh, when Hyungwon heard about this he was going to be flooded with nothing but “I told you so’s” since he’d been the first to tell him how this daycare arrangement wasn’t going to work out. In his defense, what twenty-four hour daycare has so-called “acceptable drop off times”?! He used both hands to scrub at his face as he tried to think of ways he could salvage this. He could do like most parents and drop his daughter off in the morning but he didn’t really have much to do in the morning except maybe work out or (from the increasingly long emails and voicemails from his publisher) working on his next book. 

Writing hadn’t been something Hoseok thought he’d be doing as a job but he was forever grateful. It had mainly been something he used to pass the time while in school but the right person had taken a look at his writing at the right time and the rest had been history. History and plenty of good freaking luck. His previous book checks had given him the money to move into this newer nicer apartment and allowed him to have a second just as fulfilling job as a dance instructor. When he had applied for the job, he had of course told Hyunwoo about his primary occupation as a way of explaining that he didn’t really have to be paid all that much if at all but the older man had merely ignored him and continued to sign his regular paycheck. 

He was blessed when it came to money, he knew that, and while he hated doing it he knew that sometimes money could give him a little extra sway. Which he had used at the daycare; buying the workers coffee, lunch, pastries, maybe donating a few toys and books here or there. Little things to that they’d just happen to look the other way in regards to his daughter always being dropped off way past the alloted time. Unfortunately though, looks like all his hard work had been for nothing. Hoseok groaned just at the thought of having to look into prospective child care, finding that first daycare had been hard enough! Gurgled laughter caused him to look over fondly at his daughter who was entertaining herself with her newest frog plushie, a gift from her godfather as a way of apology to her father. Hoseok had absolutely no idea what had gotten into Hyungwon at the restaurant to actively antagonize Changkyun’s...partner (no he was not twitching), but he should be thankful nothing bad came of it. The father sighed again and minutely cracked his knuckles before turning on his computer. It was already past noon on Wednesday so maybe if he laced his request with just enough desperation he’d find someone by Friday tops. 

Desperation and a generous hourly rate maybe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello alllll~! Long time no see, neh?   
> So so soso sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I got caught up on essays and papers and work and then I got sick and it's just been. A whole mess. But now I'm back and so are the boys! Please enjoy and review, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see so many people enjoying my pitiful writing! ~<33


	5. Sunday Funday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun travels home for his weekly visit and finds he might've gotten a good job offer

Being on a bus in the early morning, or really at all, was not Changkyun’s favorite way of spending his Sunday mornings but it was something he was increasingly familiar with. Most bus trips back home were only for early times like this or for later at night which he’d thankfully only ever taken once in his life. The ride was thankfully only an hour and a half with the better part of the hour spent with him in a state of near unconsciousness before the steady daylight became too bothersome to ignore. His final portion was spent with him replying to text messages asking if his travel was alright (mainly Kihyun and Jooheon) and reminding him to keep his paper spay locked and loaded against weirdos (usually Minkyuk but the others silently agreed with his sentiment he was sure).

This particular morning he was doing that while ignoring some conciliatory messages from former coworkers as well as checking online job boards. He’d like to say that after four days the sting had lessened but, well, he’d like to say it. The truth was this late in Fall with college students galore, most businesses in the area were swamped with part-time help. Some automatically rejected him stating he didn’t have enough experience while others pointed out that he was already working an early morning job which was the time they would also need him most. But he couldn’t quit his barista job since that was his main source of income at the moment, especially for a job that wouldn’t even list its hourly rate. What was this, the eighties?! Changkyun growled in annoyance as he swiped past yet another scam insurance job before switching over to a music app and putting on Epik High. He struggled not to give into temptation and shut his eyes at the piano and lyrics of _Lost One_ along with the rhythmic rocking of the bus tried to lull him back to sleep but it was a losing battle. Thankfully he was jarred awake by the bus coming to a halt and the voice of the driver announcing their location. Still groggy, Changkyun made sure he had everything before standing and exiting the bus finding a familiar face waiting for him.

“Jin hyung!”

“Changkyunnie~! I heard what happened! Do you want hyung to go give them a piece of his mind? Because I will! The nerve of some people now and days! Back in my day-”

“You’re only like, four years older than me.”

“Four years makes a world of difference!”

Changkyun made something between and a sigh and a giggle as he followed his still ranting hyung to his parked car. Jin was sometimes more of a worrier than Kihyun was which was pretty scary but thankfully he never tried to do anything unless given permission. He would just rant endlessly about it until he was tired of the subject or it was fixed. Usually the former rather than the latter. He happily slid into the front seat of Jin’s old Nissan and plugged his phone into the aux cord without asking because he could and he’d be damned if he had to listen to his hyung gush about how handsome T.O.P was again. Thankfully, Jin didn’t do much except roll his eyes before starting the car and their short journey to the house.

“How’s dad by the way?”

“You should know, you two text almost everyday.”

“I know that, and don’t think I don’t know it was you who introduced him to memes, hyung.” Jin made a dramatic affronted noise and he probably would’ve used equally ridiculous hand movements had he not been driving.

“Me?! Why do you think I was the one?!”

“Because you’re the only one who thinks moonmoon is still relevant.”

“They can pry that adorable dim wolf from my cold dead hands Changkyun-ah.”

“Annyywaayyy, I’m asking because, y’know, he won’t tell me the real stuff because he doesn’t think I can handle it or something. So he’ll tell me only the good part like he I fell down the stairs and breaks a hip and he’ll only tell me ‘oh I might’ve banged up my chair a little nothing to worry about!’ or other shit like that.”

“Language. Changkyun, he’s not doing it because he doesn’t think you can’t handle it but because he doesn’t want you to worry and stress yourself out about it. He wants you to focus on your education and your friends.” The little ball of stress deep in Changkyun’s gut clenched painfully. “So there is something he’s hiding.”

Jin sighed mentally berating himself for slipping and knew he’d hate himself for getting in the middle of this but also knew he wouldn’t be able to get the younger man to focus on anything else until he told him.

“He has infected sores on his lower back from the way he was sleeping and had to get them looked at about a week ago.” he finally relented grimacing at the memory while Changkyun paled.

“Is it bad?”

“Not as bad as it could be thankfully. We’ve had to go slow or pretty much stop some of his physical therapies until they get better so he’s been forced to be immobile and you can pretty much guess how he took that.” Changkyun snorted at the airy tone Jin took for his last words just imagining how impossible and whiny a forty year old man could be told he wasn’t allowed to move. He thought a little longer and quickly became concerned that maybe his dad wasn’t really up for his usual Sunday and had just been too nice to tell him and was about to say so when his hyung pulled up into the driveway of his home. The small one story house looked the same except for maybe a few more leaves in the yard from the coming Fall and the newly built ramp leading up to the porch. Despite being glad to be home he still hesitated getting out the car.

“I know what you’re thinking Changkyun and while flattered, I’m afraid I only see you as a little brother.”

“Hyung.”

“Look the choice is yours Changkyun-ah. You can tell me to take you back to the station lie and say you missed the bus break your father’s heart in the process, or go inside eat my wonderful cooking and have a marvelous time with your dad. No bias, I’m a completely neutral party, I shan’t try to sway you.”

“You’re pretty awful at being neutral.”

“Damn right, now get out my car and go hug your dad you pest or I’ll kick you out.”

Changkyun was tempted to tell him “language” but he judging from the look Jin was giving him, he had no problems believing he wouldn’t actually kick him out his car. He quickly got out and walked up to his door being sure to knock slightly to alert his dad before putting his key in and opening the door. By the time he was toeing his shoes off he heard his dad coming towards him already situated in his chair with a large grin in place at seeing his son.

“Changkyun-ah! How many times have I told you, you don’t have to knock on your own door.” His son just smiled bashfully saying “I know I know” under his breath before walking over to him and giving him a hug not seeing Jin walk in behind him smiling brightly at the exchange.

 

“It’s good to see you, any old ladies give you any trouble this time?” Kwain teased his son who squawked that it was just one time and to please for the love of God stop bringing it up.

“If anyone should be asking about lady troubles it should be me. Those girls in your class still trying to get ‘extra credit’?” Changkyun asked walking into the living room leaving his father to give a flustered reply as he followed.

“Yah! Those are children you’re talking about!”

“Thirsty teenagers aren’t children, dad.”

“Thirsty what now?!” Jin yelled.

==

==

Changkyun looked intently at his board knowing that he was nearly caught. His dad had been strategically cornering him the entire game and if he gave anything away, it would all be over. He waited with bated breath for his dad’s turn.

“I15.”

“Dammit! You sunk my battleship!” he cried out pouting outrageously as he dad did his victory dance.

He avoided looking at it, because seriously the disrespect, and instead focused on the beauty and sense of peace he always felt looking over the backyard and their still blooming apple trees. The apples wouldn’t probably be ready for picking for another few weeks, usually right on time for Chuseok, and he would pick them all looking for the perfect ripe ones for his mom to-

Changkyun quickly stopped that trail of thinking and went back to the shameful display that was his father’s victory dance. “Ohmygod, dad seriously, you’re gonna break something if you keep going.”

“Aigo, you should watch who you’re calling old there son. You’re not a spring chicken anymore yourself.”

“I’m twenty-three!”

“Spring chickens only live to ten!”

“OhmyGOD!” Kwain cackled mercilessly at his son’s plight as Jin poked his head out the backdoor more so to alert them that lunch was ready than alarmed at the amount of noise. He’d been Kwain’s caretaker and live-in long enough to know there was never a dull moment. Honestly it was probably why he’d been selected. Changkyun knew his dad had shot down a list of possible home nurses because he hadn’t liked the way they treated him even going so far as to have a couple run from their house spitting curses at the man proclaiming him impossible to work with. He didn’t like anyone looking down on him before and he’d be damned if he let it happen just because he was in a wheelchair. “A man, if nothing else, has his principles.” Kwain had told his son never looking up from the papers he was grading after the last nurse called Changkyun to tell them they were through sending people over. Then entered Kim Seokjin; recent graduate, certified in physical therapy, excellent cooking skills, and had about the same amount of patience as his father. The first day Jin had come by he’d been so nervous talking to his apparent first real client that after Changkyun had introduced himself and asked if he was thirsty he replied, “hi thirsty I’m dad.”

Kwain hired him ten minutes later and Changkyun had been living in misery ever since.

Changkyun didn’t even bother putting away the rest of the pieces of the board game before slamming it shut and placing it back in its box and following his dad into the house where the were assaulted by the wonderful smells of Jin’s cooking. As usual he cooked an overabundance of food, mainly so Changkyun would have to be sent home with leftovers for the week since Jin also agreed that man shouldn’t live on pizza and ramyun alone. The young man happily settled into his seat and after a quick prayer spooned a giant heaping of cheese buldak making sure to also get a healthy serving of vegetable japchae to appease his hyung. The only sounds for a few moments were of chopsticks and spoons hitting plates and of Jin’s groans of culinary satisfaction that both Lim’s had long turned deaf to. When they were reaching for side dishes or seconds conversation finally flowed about the table informing the others of their previous week. Despite talking to his dad or Jin earlier in the week, Changkyun still enjoyed hearing their daily excursions and frets. He praised an embarrassed Kwain when told about his improvements in physical therapy before having to pause from the sores. “Honestly, I just thought the mattress was going bad. I didn’t even consider my body was the problem.” he’d admitted once his son interrogated him about the ailment. The young man huffed but let it go knowing his nagging wouldn’t really change anything. That’s why they paid Jin after all. All too soon, the three men were full and happy with Kwain being banished to the living room to grade more papers while Changkyun helped clean up the kitchen.

“You didn’t talk about it earlier, but how is the job search going? Did you manage to pick up more hours at the cafe?” Changkyun sighed as he dried the wet plate Jin handed to him.

“Yeah. It’s still mainly earlier morning shifts, but I’ve also been allowed to pick up hours in the overnight shift if needed. As for the search,” he made a whistling diving sound picking up a dry chopstick before exploding it on impact into the utensil drawer. Jin only gave him a four for the landing, rude.

“I’m sure there’s a great job just waiting for you to apply, Changkyun-ah. You’ll see, it’ll practically fall into your lap.” Jin told him causing him to roll his eyes.

“This isn’t some drama hyung, a handsome rich guy isn’t going to suddenly need like an assistant to basically do nothing and pay me ridiculous amounts of money.”

“Besides the do nothing part that sounds like the dream to me. And I never said there had to be a handsome rich guy, Kyunnie.” Changkyun blushed heavily at his hyung’s sly remark and began stuttering as he tried to come up with a response when his phone pinged within his pocket. _OhthankyousweetbabyJesus._

“Sorry hyung, gotta take this, could be important!” he rushed out the kitchen to the cackling of the other before opening the phone going to his message app to see there was nothing from his friends. Curious he pulled up his menu to see that the alert had come from one of the job boards he’d subscribed to. A job that’d been added just raised it’s asking price! And apparently it’s qualifications…

“‘Cannot wear perfume’? Weird but doable. ‘No high heels,’ and I just bought some new stilettos…”  Changkyun ad libbed his way down the list until he reached a phone number to contact the employer. After doing a double check to ensure that yes, the price really was set yes that was a comma, he dialled the number and waited restlessly as it rang. The longer he waited the harder his heart beat against his ribcage and the more he realized he’d have to do the one thing socially awkward people hated most: leave a voicemail. Just before he was resigned to his fate, he heard the phone get picked up by a winded definitely male voice.

 _“Ah, ha, I’m so sorry! I couldn’t find my phone for a moment. Hello? Are you still there?”_ Changkyun had frozen hearing the other man’s voice initially but shook himself out of it before the man could hang up.

“Ye-yes, hello! I’m calling about the, the post you made online for the job?” He wanted to kick himself, why had he put that as a question?! Thankfully though the man bowled right over it apparently more excited at a prospective hire.

_“Oh! That’s so lucky you’ve called, I was beginning to worry no one was interested!”_

After seeing the amount this guy was willing to part with, Changkyun couldn’t understand why.

“Uh, well then, I’m happy to be of service? Do you have any questions for me to answer?” He heard another sound of exclamation and loud rustling sounds as if the man were moving around.

_“Yes! Do you know CPR?”_

“Yes sir.” Between Minhyuk the ever vigilant kindergarten teacher and Jooheon who was studying to be a pediatric nurse, Changkyun had been dragged to more health skills certification classes than probably some EMT’s.

 _“Ah, really?! That’s really good! The last girls didn’t really-ahem. Sorry, probably shouldn’t tell you any of that. Next question! Would working between the hours of three pm and nine pm be ok with you?”_ Changkyun gaped without remiss since the guy couldn’t actually see him. He was willing to pay that much for six freaking hours?!

“Yes sir! Oh but, this is a weekday job right? Not weekends?” If it was it’d be perfect to schedule around his coffee shifts and it wouldn’t interfere with his job at the bookstore on the weekend.

_“Yup! I mean yes! I’m perfectly able to watch her during the weekend it’s just on weeknights that I need to have someone here for her. Now, do you have any questions for me?”_

Did he? It was pretty much the perfect job, whatever it was. Well, maybe he should ask-

“You’re not one of those insurance scammers are you? Because I suck at phone interviews, clearly.” Hearing the man chuckle did something to his insides that he really didn’t want to think about right now but hey, making a potential boss laugh was brownie points right?

 _“No no, nothing like that I swear. Listen, I know this is really sudden but after talking with you I think you might actually be what I’m looking for. Could you possibly stop by this afternoon?”_ Changkyun was startled that everything was happening so quickly and stammered out a reply that he was an hour outside the city.

 _“Oh, hm. Is there anyway you could come by this early evening then? If you couldn’t tell, I’m really sort of desperate!”_ the man replied with a sheepish chuckle. Changkyun knew all about desperation so really, he could relate.

“Ah, let me see, hold on real quick!” Changkyun put the call on hold to rush from the hallway he’d been hiding in back to the kitchen and nearly ran smack dab into the man he was trying to find.

“Hyung! I know this is super last minute and I promise to pay you back in gas or pokemon go coins but could you please-”

“Changkyun-ah, of course I’ll give you a ride. I’ve already got your food packed and ready to go. I’ll just go grab my wallet and keys and we can head out.” Jin told him with an easy smile before leaving him in the hallway slightly befuddled. Then he remembered he still had the other man on hold and came back to his senses. They agreed to a meeting at a cafe, the one he actually worked at (not that he told the man that, still smarting from the last employer’s comments), in roughly an hour which gave him just enough time. He apologized to his dad for cutting this week’s visit short but Kwain just waved away his concerns and made him promise to call or text him if any trouble came and when he and Jin made it safe.

“I don’t want to go looking for another home nurse, Changkyun. He’s a great cook and I’ll never find someone who cheats as much as I do at games like him.”

 

 

A forty-five minute car drive later, Jin and Changkyun arrived at his job Lava Java Cafe with the latter first texting his dad that they arrived safe and then texting his hopeful employer that he was there as well. He got a ping back quickly from the second saying he was already inside and waiting.

“Ok hyung, wish me luck.”

“I won’t wish you anything because you’re a great guy who deserves a great job.”

“Aw, tha-”

“And I’m going in with you to make sure this guy isn’t a freak who sells skin.”

“Gee. Thanks. So much.”

They both exited the car and walked in with Jin making a beeline for the short order line while Changkyun looked around the rest of the cafe for someone look conspicuous. Early evenings were usually a bit busy but he supposed because it was a Sunday it was slower, which he was thankful for. There were only a handful of people actually sitting included a pair of teenage girls sharing a tablet and talking low about something, the usual guy only making eye contact with his laptop screen, and one other guy with blonde hair with a baby stroller by his side. Who was looking increasingly familiar as he got closer. Holymotherfuckingshit.

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this Hoseok hyung.” he tried not to laugh at the other man’s startled jump but couldn’t stop the shit eating grin.

“Yah! Kyun-nah, you gave me a heart attack! How can you call me hyung and then be so mean?!” Hoseok whined holding a hand to his chest. Sunni gurgled from his position in her pram and waved her stuffed frog towards Changkyun who waved in return.

“Sorry, I really couldn’t resist. What are you two doing here anyway?” he asked noting that there were no coffee cups or juice boxes on the table so they had to have just gotten there.

“I’m meeting with, hopefully, my new babysitter. I talked to him on the phone earlier and he said he’d be coming by soon.” Hoseok said cheerfully then became concerned when the younger started choking on air because motherfucking shit.

“That was me! I called you about the job you posted but I didn’t…” Changkyun didn’t want to finish it by saying “I didn’t read the whole thing” because that made him seem kinda money grubbing (which he kinda was at this point, solid truth) and instead just mumbled out that he hadn’t known it was him. “There were no pictures or anything to really identify you.”

“Yeah, I kinda took those down after the last few hopefuls.” Hoseok apologized sheepishly. He explained that after he posted the job and put pictures of himself and Sunni on there that he got a wave of potentials but most were mainly contacting him for more personal means. The few actual interviews he had were so bad and discouraging he took down the photos and changed over to a different job site.

“But wow, what are the odds! I didn’t even know you needed a job. What about the restaurant? Could you still work there and for me?” he asked confused while Changkyun scratched at his cheek trying not to meet the other’s gaze.

“Well actually uh, they fired me a few days ago.”

“What?! Why?!” Changkyun really didn’t want to tell the story again and yet he did and let Hoseok’s scoffs and indignant yells wash over him and tried not to think about why it made him feel so warm.

“I’m so sorry, Kyun-nah! You deserve better than that.” Hoseok told him firmly placing a hand over Changkyun’s arm. He tried not to blush too hard at the sudden skinship but pretty much failed.

“It-it’s ok! It was actually my second job, I work here too and the manager was nice enough to give me some extra hours but I really do need this other job to help with bills and school and and stuff.” he finished lamely really trying hard not to think about the heat coming from the other’s hand.

“Oh right, you did say you were a student at the dinner but I don’t remember what it was you’re studying.”

“I’m a Biology major. I haven’t really decided what I want to do with it yet but at least I’d have a degree.” he replied with a shrug blushing more at Hoseok’s proud exclamations about his major.

“That’s so cool! I wasn’t that good at science when I was in school. Mostly because I cried whenever we had to dissect stuff but also because allot of it was really confusing.” Hoseok told him rather blasé about admitting he was a crier which endeared him even more to Changkyun.

‘I understand what you mean hyung. Thankfully since most of my classes are online, I’m not doing much dissection. More memorization than anything.” he related shyly tracing a coffee ring on the table with his finger. Hoseok still thought he was pretty amazing and told him so causing him to blush more and for the man to coo and call him adorable which just made it worse and made him yell out in embarrassment and indignation. They continued talking in this fashion never noticing that they had scooted their chairs closer or that Hoseok’s hand had never left its place on Changkyun’s arm. They would’ve stayed like this for at least an hour had Jin not walked over to them with a coffee cup in his hand apologizing but explaining he really needed to get back home. Changkyun felt mortified that he’d kept the nurse there with him and kept bowing apologetically promising to send him their arranged gas money and pokecoins as he followed the man to his car to grab his bag of leftover food. After exchanging goodbyes he turned to walk back into the cafe only to see Hoseok already standing outside with his daughter ready to leave as well. He didn’t know why his heart sank at the thought.

“Sorry if I wasted your time hyung. I hope you and Sunni-yah find someone.” Changkyun said sadly noting the look of confusion that went across the father’s face.

“But we did, or at least I hope we did. If you say yes of course.” The student blinked in surprise and then again for good measure.

“You really want to hire me? To watch your daughter for you?” Hoseok beamed his usual bright grin at him and nodded and Changkyun knew he was a goner when Sunni did the same from her pram. So he grinned back in return and hoped that Hoseok couldn’t actually hear how hard his heart was beating as he wrote down his address and what time he should be there to start. He shot down the offer of a ride home saying he didn’t want to be a bother, especially since he had Sunni with him and that it would honestly be quicker if he just walked since he was nearby. Plus he really needed the walk to clear his head and figure out how he was going to tell his roommates and Kihyun about his new job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all~  
> I'm so blown away with all the support for this story and all your great comments, seriously. You're all so amazing ~<3  
> The story should pick up a bit now that Kyun is (finally) working for Hoseok so be sure to tune in next time!


	6. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun's first day on the job

Changkyun wiped down the counter once more after sliding his last drink order to the pick up area before once again checking the time on his watch. He was expected at Hoseok’s apartment before three and he roughly had about...two hours left. Technically he had one hour left on his shift and then another hour to change and get there but still. He was still anxious about his new job, he was basically being paid to keep a young child alive when he had gotten a C- in health taking care of an egg. He had tried his hand at making a homemade incubator which had worked for the first few days but when he checked it the last he realized all he’d done was make the slowest hard boiled egg known to mankind. By the end of term he’d managed to bring his grade up to an acceptable B but still, highkey embarrassment. And that had been with an  _ egg _ . He was watching a living breathing child today and the youngest  he’d ever been around were his dad’s high school students and those thirsty asses barely qualified as children in his book. Changkyun had asked his friends for advice after telling them about his new afternoon occupation and listening to them squeal in excitement or question his sanity.

“You barely even know this guy! What if you get there and he ties you up and keeps you locked in his closet or steals your fingerprints so he can commit crime-”

“Jeez hyung, you really need to stay away from  Meitantei Conan for a few days, you know that stuff gives you nightmares.”

“Changkyun-AH.”

“He’s got a point, Kyunnie.” Kihyun piped up his face puckered at the fact that he’d actually agreed with Jooheon about something. The same man who’d made it his mission in life to include “swag” into everyday vocabulary as a verb, noun, and pronoun. “How much do you really know about this guy to just go to his house and supposedly watch his daughter?”

“I know allot more than you do since I actually paid attention at Jihyun’s dinner, hyung.” Chankgyun sharply pointed out not flinching at the glare directed his way. “Look, can we at least give this a week? One week to prove he’s not some creepy possibly homicidal being using his daughter as the perfect cover to kidnap unsuspecting babysitters and hide their bodies before harvesting their skin or something.” Jooheon was already gagging by the time he’d heard “bodies” but was full on yelling at his  dongsaeng and hardcore cringing not even able to enjoy watching his boyfriend chase the younger around the apartment for his gross ways. 

In the end, Changkyun had agreed to giving this a test run for the grand total of one day and if things seemed off even by a little, he agreed to pull the plug. That said, he’d also extracted promises from all three of his hyungs in preparation since he knew jack shit about babysitting. Minhyuk had offered an array of different visual games he could do with Sunni to not just help her development but also tire her out, and what to do in the event that he did have to put her down for a nap. Jooheon, ever the worrier, had gone over basic first aid and what to do if she put something in her mouth, ear, eye, basically any orifice a child could reach. Kihyun, bless his soul, had given him fail-proof idiot-proof easy meal recipes for when he was there to make sure both he and the baby ate well. As well as mentioning not to let her watch too much television since it was “bad for her eyes” or something. Between all that and the index cards of notes (don’t laugh) Changkyun figured he was 40% ready rather than his earlier 12%. 

A wet rag slapped over Changkyun’s hand scaring him and breaking him out of his thoughts with a short yelp. He glared at the offending rag and at its owner who looked back unimpressed. 

“If I hear you sigh one more time I’m throwing you in the back to count the individual grains of sugar.” Yoongi told him and more than likely meant it. Changkyun barely held back the sigh that wanted erupt after he said it. 

“So-sorry Yoongi-ssi, I’m just nervous about something.” he lamely explained flinging away the wet wash rag with a grimace. He heard the older man suck his teeth in annoyance.

“Being nervous is a worthless emotion; either you fuck up or you don’t so might as well focus on not fucking up than focusing on if you fuck up.” he told him in what he guesses was supposed to be a wise tone but with that many “fucks” who really knew. Though it did surprisingly make him feel better. “Thanks, that really helps allot.” He heard the other man hmph but also duck down to hide his pleased expression causing him to grin. Changkyun had only recently met Yoongi after months of referring to him generously as the “elusive night stocker,” held in high regard and fabled almost due to the fact that no one other than their boss’s boss had ever actually met him, until now that is. Right before Changkyun had been fired, Yoongi had apparently requested to be changed from the night shift for some reason and now worked mid morning to early evening prompting questions of either “who’s that” and “he’s real?!” from the work staff. The younger, surprisingly, hadn’t felt any anxiety about the sudden change since he’d been in (sort of ) communication with Yoongi via their random sticky notes. Changkyun didn’t know when the other had figured out he was the one, but since he had he’d been, if he had to use the word, softer towards him in comparison to other baristas. Apparently in just a week after the change, three baristas were sure Yoongi had no soul and two were sure that the man was a golem fueled by apathy and espresso. Everyone agreed however that there was literally no reason for him to be that good at foam art though. 

Withholding another sigh, Changkyun looked down at his watch to see it was already two minutes pass the time he was supposed to be off causing him to whip into a frenzy of taking off his apron and clocking out simultaneously nearly braining himself on the espresso machine at least twice much to his managers consternation. He finally managed to leave the cafe without any major bodily harm and walked quickly back to his apartment only pausing to give a quick belly rub to Boo before rushing into the bathroom with a change of clothes. After a quick shower and change, he double checked Boo’s food and water dishes, grabbed his bag and ran out the flat to the nearest bus stop. Hoseok had texted Changkyun his address just the night before and he’d mapped out the bus route he’d have to take to get there on time. Both Jooheon and Kihyun offered to take time to take them in their car but he’d declined; Jooheon’s internship at the hospital was much to important for just this and while Kihyun was mostly out and about due to his photography jobs Changkyun would still feel bad if he put the man out of his way. Besides, it wasn’t like he planned on taking the bus forever. Before he’d gotten fired, he’d been only a few thousand won short of finally purchasing a bike he’d been eyeing on an online auction. If today went as well as he’d hoped, he might be able to put forth an offer by the end of the week. 

The bus ride wasn’t too long thankfully and after getting off, he only had to walk two blocks to find Hoseok’s apartment building which was a luxury high rise that looked like just the air conditioning was above Changkyun’s paygrade. He gaped at the front of it and couldn’t stop as he walked through the lobby towards the elevator. After a short ride to the seventh floor, with thankfully no one joining him in the elevator, he arrived at the floor and consulted his phone twice to make sure he found the right apartment number before knocking three times. 

He heard a thump from inside that made him jump and cautiously take a step back as he heard heavy footsteps approach the door. Another few seconds and the door was pulled open to reveal a rumbled Hoseok wearing a plain white t-shirt and matching joggers with a towel wrapped around his neck. He beamed at seeing Changkyun who was busy trying not to spontaneously combust from seeing the man’s pectorals in his ridiculously tight shirt. Seriously, was he wearing a schmedium or something?!

“Kyun-ah, you made it! I was worried you’d become a lost little puppy.” the man said with a laugh and wink causing Changkyun to sputter and flame up much to his embarrassment. 

“I-I, well i-it’s not, I-I the bus and I just wa-walked and um…” God could this get any worse?! Hoseok’s smile dimmed as he took in the younger’s stuttering and red face and quickly drew him inside thinking perhaps the heat had gotten to his young friend. He forced him to take a seat at the bar counter while he went to the kitchen to grab him a cold water from the fridge. 

“Well, besides all of that, how has your day been?” Hoseok asked leaning against the counter near him. Changkyun took a grateful sip of the offered water hoping it would quench his thirst in more ways than one. 

“I-it’s been go-good hyung! I was a bit apprehensive ab-about this afternoon though.” Changkyun admitted sheepishly causing the older man to snort.

“Don’t be! I bet today’s going to go great. I have absolute trust in you Kyun-ah!” Hoseok proclaimed confidently, even going so far as to make a V sign and heroic pose causing the younger to nearly spit out his drink in surprise and laughter. Hoseok beamed at his win of getting his puppy to lighten up. They spoke for a little while longer with the father reiterating the afternoon plans “my class usually breaks up by six but sometimes it goes over, and if that’s the case I’ll text you to tell you the delay,” how Sunni was doing, what to do if someone unexpectedly dropped by “which should be no one since Hyungwon is nocturnal,” and most importantly, Sunni’s daily schedule. 

“I’m trying to keep her close to the schedule she had at her daycare which means she should be getting up soon and wanting to eat. After that um, this sounds kind of bad but uh, I don’t really care what you two get up to? As long as you don’t burn down the building or start a new episode of Little Wizard Tao then we’re good.” At the other’s raised look Hoseok pinked and scrubbed the back of his damp hair with his towel ducking his head. “It’s a good show! And she really likes Polley, her eyes light up whenever he’s on screen or when he turns into a fox-”

“It’s ok hyung, I get it. I think it’s cute you two have a show to bond over. Me and my dad watched Shin Chan when I was younger until he realized it wasn’t really for kids.” Changkyun related with a quirky grin which widened when he managed to get the other man laughing. 

“I really want to thank you again for this, Kyun-ah. I know this isn’t the sort of thing you were probably applying for and with the degree you’re working on, you’re obviously over qualified-”

“Hyung, thank you but, could you please stop? Really, I should be thanking you for the opportunity. This is basically the one job I have where I’m not required to wear a uniform.” Changkyun interrupted again in a dry tone causing the man to snort again as he took in the younger’s jeans and hoodie and socks with tiny dragons all over them. Ah. Dorable. Without thinking Hoseok leaned over to ruffle the younger’s hair marvelling at how soft it was not noticing how bright the other got. They both jumped at the sound of his baby monitor crackling to life and as Hoseok left to deal with his daughter, Changkyun took the time to snatch his soul back into his body. He pressed the cool bottle of water against his cheeks to try and alleviate the warm bright color and quickly put it back down once Hoseok came back into the room with a still sleepy eyed Sunni who was dressed casually in a yellow coverall dress with duckling embroidery, a light blue onesie underneath, and major bed head. 

“I just checked her diaper so she’s clean at the moment. She’s got finger food that you can try to give her to see if she eats. If she doesn’t, then just give her a full bottle but if she does then just give her half. Uh..what else is there…”

“Hyung I’m starting to think you’re even more nervous than I am.” Changkyun said wryly with a raised eyebrow. Hoseok looked abashed and quickly reiterated his trust in his dongsaeng which he again waved away with understanding until the pair of them were just standing in front of each other rather awkwardly. Sunni, however, was not affected and smacked her father on the cheek babbling about something oddly serious. It brought giggles from both men and after only a second of hesitation, Hoseok gently deposited his daughter in Changkyun’s arms startling him at the sudden weight but quickly wrapped protective arms around the infant so she wouldn’t fall. Sunni for the most part was confused at the sudden drop in height but then became too distracted by Changkyun’s face to really complain as she began cooing and patting at his cheeks making him grin and giggle. Was Hoseok slightly jealous of his nine month old daughter? Possibly. But he wasn’t drunk enough to think of the connotations which was a weak excuse but an excuse nonetheless. “Ok, it seems like there’s nothing more for me to do except leave. I’ll see you two later, have fun!” the father dropped a kiss to his daughter’s head with a grin before slipping into his shoes by the door and finally leaving. Once the door closed, Changkyun stood in the now empty living room feeling the silence surround him and the realization that he was alone with another lifeform. He stared at the infant who stared back at him and for about thirty seconds that’s what they did until she let out a small toot from her backside that had them both squealing. So much for her staying clean. 

He grimaced but walked towards what he assumed were the bedrooms and after a quick peek found her’s rather quickly. It was decorated with the walls a lovely spring blue with green grass and hopping bunnies on one side and a large almost never ending field of wildflowers on the opposite with the two connecting walls merging the two almost seamlessly. Changkyun thought the entire design was beautiful and could’ve stayed there looking at it for hours had a sudden smell not remind him what he was in there for. Thankfully the changing table was easily recognized and seemed to have everything he needed within arm’s reach so he wasn’t scrambling around which was good. He’d never changed an actual baby before, but had seen enough movies to at least know where to start. Changkyun laid Sunni gently on the table talking to her as he lifted her dress and unbuttoned the bottom of her onsie nearly gagging at the smell already. “Ugh, we’re going to talk to daddy about the sewage he feeds you.” he told her trying hard to only breathe through his mouth. Sunni just giggled in response kicking her feet up at him and causing him to nearly panic as her heel smeared the contents of her diaper (was it even supposed to be that color?!) and became a literal weapon of destruction for a minute as he tried to keep it from getting feces everywhere and her from rolling over and off the changing table. 

After a few heartstopping moments, he managed to control the situation and get both her and her foot clean and in a new diaper. He marvelled over how many baby wipes it had taken for just this changing as well as how sweet she could smell afterwards once she was clean. Babies were a weird chaotic magic Changkyun concluded. Once he picked her back up she started fussing which honestly freaked him out more than the diaper change and he gently pat her on the back shushing her and wracking his brain for what it was she could want. Finally it hit him that she hadn’t eaten yet so he left to go back to the kitchen looking for the foods Hoseok had described. He clicked her into her high chair and watched her smack the plastic tray while he looked at the container of...yogurt puffs? He opened it and took a sniff of the top smelling strawberries and peaches which wasn’t bad and took one out to look at noting it wasn’t sticky at all, if anything it was a little powdery and reminded him of a cheeto puff. Sunni took notice of his observation and smacked her table a bit harder and babbling out a string of sounds that Changkyun took to hear as “what the hell are you even doing? feed me!” Chuckling his apologies, he poured a handful of the food stuffs on her tray and watched her eyes light up and her chubby hands grab at the food. For a few seconds he allowed himself a pat on the back until he saw that Sunni was smashing the food into crumbs and powder than actually putting in her mouth. 

“Hey! Hey hey hey, none of that! C’mon, try and eat some.” Changkyun grabbed one of the survivors and held it up to her mouth. Or tried to as she swung her head away from the food with a giggle. “C’mon Sunni-yah, I bet it’s really tasty see-ack!” He had put the one in his mouth and gagged at the overtly powdery feel and strawberry aftertaste while the little girl giggled. 

After another round of back and forth, he gave up and just let her keep playing with the food while he focused on getting a bottle ready. He was once again completely grateful that Hoseok had everything already out so he wouldn’t be scrounging around his kitchen and took to reading the directions on the can of formula. Once he opened it, he felt a tickle go into his nostril and sneezed shaking the can and causing some of the powder to go flinging about the kitchen much to his mortification. And Sunni’s fascination as she squealed and grasped her hands in the air trying to catch the flakes. Changkyun sighed, though not over the can, and was thankful it seemed relatively new so that there was still a lot more left. After making sure he had enough water in the bottle already, he scooped the recommended amount into the bottle and shook it turning it once or twice to make sure it was all dissolved. When it was, he handed into Sunni’s awaiting hands and let out a sigh of relief when she immediately latched on and began to drink in earnest. While she drank, he cleaned the mess from her tray and the floor that they both caused and straightened up anything he might’ve touched. He heard a noise of protest a few minutes into her feeding and looked to see Sunni in distress as she kept trying to lean back in her chair to no avail which confused him until he watched and noticed she wasn’t getting the rest of her milk.  Changkyun took the bottle away from her, which was the exact wrong thing to do with the wailing that came after, and quickly unfastened her from her chair and gathered her and the bottle in his arms. 

He flopped onto the nearest seat and pressed the bottle back to her pouty lips and was relieved when she quickly took back to suckling. He tried to remember whatever hold and position Jooheon had spoken about in regards to holding a baby, but he was too distracted by watching her. Her eyes were wide open so he could catalogue every color he found within them from the lightest caramel color around her iris to the dark chocolate towards the outer orbs and every shade in between. She had long curly eyelashes that he knew Minhyuk would squeal over and cut a bitch for and rosy cheeks just ripe for poking and pinching by needful grandmothers. One hand rested in a loose grip around the bottle while the other rested in the black curls of her hair. 

“You’re a really cute kid. That’s not actually surprising since your dad’s so handsome but I just thought you’d like to know. Not the fact that I think your dad is handsome, that you’re a cute kid.” Changkyun clarified not really knowing why since it wasn’t like she truly understood what he was saying. 

“But if we’re being honest, I do think your dad’s kinda handsome. Ok ok, I think he’s hot, stop looking at me like that geez. You could be a detective with those eyes.” Sunni gurgled around her bottle probably agreeing with his assessment. 

“That doesn’t mean anything though so, just get that out of you pretty head. There’s no way he’d be interested in the first place and if he even was, c’mon. He’s so out of my league he’s practically in outer space.” Changkyun huffed readjusting the bottle so Sunni could get the remaining dredges. 

“I have no idea why I’m telling you all of this. It’s not like you can give me back some advice. That’s probably a good thing though; between all my friends and their ‘helpful advice’ I’m sorta over it. Plus yours would probably involve eating and sleeping which, actually, isn’t a bad idea. Thanks Sunni.” He removed the bottle with a soft pop and angled her across his shoulder to pat her on the back for her VIB’s: Very Important Burps as Minhyuk told it. He kept patting until her heard a good loud burp making him giggle before bringing her back around. “Good, yeah?” Sunni gave him a bright smile showing off pink healthy gums and a spattering of tiny teeth. “So what else should we do?”

* * *

Hoseok trudged through his apartment lobby giving the desk attendant a tired wave and smile before reaching the elevators and slumping against the door with a tired sigh. The kids had been extra excited that day once it was announced that they’d be performing a small showcase to show off what they had been learning to their families as well as encourage more students to sign up. He, Hobi, and Hyunwoo had basically spent the afternoon corralling their animated students and figuring out which dances to show to the public. Needless to say, he had been the pitied one. He straightened up and winced at the dull pain from his shoulder blades and rubbed at it absentmindedly though even with the pain he couldn’t wipe the satisfied smile off his face. He hadn’t believed Hyungwon when he told him all those months ago that he needed to do something other than stay at home and wallow with his daughter. To be fair, it’s always hard to take anything his best friend said seriously when he remembers a time in college when his friend had scheduled all night classes for a semester just so he’d have an excuse to never get up before two pm. But as his mother said, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Hoseok pushed off the wall of the elevator when it arrived at his floor and took a quick glance at his watch noting it was only fifteen minutes after eight o’clock. A full two hours after he’d promised to be home unfortunately, but as promised he’d managed to find the time to text the young puppy to tell him he’d be late and had actually received a meme in response before getting a second text apologizing that it was his de facto response to most messages. Hoseok had replied back with a meme of his own and told him shots fired which had garnered him a cackling fox gif in response. 

He would’ve stayed to continue this trend had he not been called back into the studio by his awaiting students. He hoped Changkyun wasn’t too upset about the change and that he didn’t already have plans for the evening. If he had, he would make sure to pay him ample enough to make up for it. When he reached his apartment, he slipped in noting that most of the lights were off save for the ones coming from the living room and toed off his shoes lazily while looking around for the pair. “Sunni, Kyun-ah, I’m home!” Hoseok called out walking towards the living room and snorted in laughter at the scene in front of him. Changkyun and his daughter were on their stomachs doing a weird plank pose while Little Einsteins played in the background on the tv. Both didn’t notice him for a few seconds until Changkyun rolled over and yelped finally seeing the older man causing him to laugh in earnest. “Hyung! Wh-when’d you get home?!”

“Just now. What exactly are you two doing?” The younger pinked again and picked up Sunni to bring her to her father who squealed in happiness at seeing him. “Well um, a friend of mine told me about ways to uh, keep Sunni active? And like, he mentioned baby aerobics and yoga and she wasn’t too interested in the show so we just sorta…” 

Hoseok couldn’t have contained his laughter if he actually tried and thought it should be an actual crime to be that adorable . “That sounds really cool! You’ll have to show me one day so we can do it together.” Did he mean we as just him and Sunni or we as in all three of them? Hell if he actually knew. He turned his attention back to his daughter so he wouldn’t be caught staring at Changkyun as he finally stood up from the floor and stretched giving him a teasing view of his soft looking stomach. Jesus take the wheel. 

“Uh, so, let me just get my wallet so I can pay you for tonight.” Hoseok said his voice suddenly raspy which he hoped the other would chalk up to him being tired. He could hear Changkyun follow behind him as he rustled through his junk drawer for his checkbook making a soft aha sound when he finally found it. It was a bit tricky writing a check with an infant in one hand, but it was something he’d mastered around the time Sunni was four months old, but he still enjoyed the look of amazement on the younger’s face as he did so. Signing the check with a flourish, he handed it to Changkyun with a happy grin belatedly taking a look around the house to see that it looked cleaner than when he left and that there was actually a pot on his stove that he was sure hadn’t been there when he left. “Hey Kyun-ah, what’s on the stove?” Hoseok asked looking back at his dongsaeng who had been staring at his checking with wide eyes. 

“Kyun-ah?” he tried again, this one snapping him out of his shock and looking back between the father and the kitchen. 

“O-oh! That’s just kimchi jjigae. You already had the ingredients and I was um, getting kinda hungry so I just...if that wasn’t alright I’m really sorry.”

“No! That’s, that’s awesome! I haven’t had homemade jjgae since um, since a while I guess?” Hoseok said with a sheepish laugh going over to the pot to look inside and inhale the wonderful spicy salty scent. Huh. He hadn’t even known he’d had scallops. “Thank you, Changkyun. For everything. Now I feel sorta bad, like I should’ve paid you extra for the cooking.”

“No! Please, hyung just, you paid me plenty as it is. I’d feel bad if you tried to pay me even more. Really.” Changkyun hastily replied haphazardly waving the check around in his agitation. So cute.

After a short rundown of how the day was and another round of thank, Changkyun left (after fighting and winning a thumb wrestle match over whether Hoseok would drive him home) leaving him with a slightly sleepy infant and a still warm pot of actual home cooked food. He could really get used to this.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all~  
> Sorry for the late post, finals and papers to write and grade and all that. But yes, here's the long awaited babysitting scene! And Yoongi finally makes an appearance which I'm sure we've all been waiting on >.>


	7. Happy Anniversary?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok's not in a good place and Changkyun tries to help

Hoseok put his face in a couch pillow and screamed knowing no real sound would escape being muffled and yelled out his frustration. Like he’d feared, his editor had found that he had been slightly slacking in the writing department and had come down hard putting the fear of Buddha in him that if he didn’t at least have the roughest of drafts in her inbox by Monday she’d be making a visit. And her visits were anything but pleasant; he’d had the misfortune of entertaining them before. But he was in a slump! Wontokki and his pals had pretty much done most of  the recommended children life skills: Wontokki learned about lying, he learned why you shouldn’t be mean, why it wasn’t nice to hit, how to be generous, how to be polite, what to do when the walls were seemingly caving in and you had nowhere to turn. Oh no wait, that was just Hoseok.

He sighed again and sat up from his hunched position to look at the open blank word document and its stupid blinking cursor mocking him with its emptiness. He had half a mind to just throw it out the window but that would probably do more harm than good. He wiped at his eyes trying to psyche himself up for writing when he heard a familiar knock at the door and paused. Was it really this late already? Hoseok got up and went to his door opening it to see Changkyun standing there in customary hoodie and jeans and large round glasses glinting from the overhead light.

“Hey hyung, sorry if I’m a bit late. I was running an errand and the time got away from me.” the younger started as he came in toeing off his shoes and placing them in their respective spot. Hoseok just smiled, or tried to at least it might’ve come off more as a tired grimace unfortunately which Changkyun immediately noticed and frowned at.

“Hyung, are you feeling alright? You’re not looking uh, your best.” he said easily when really he wanted to say the older man looked like the garbage island of shit. There were bags under his eyes that he was pretty sure weren’t there a few days ago, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair looked limp and greasy and just overall he looked really ill. Which was really surprising considering he had just seen the man only a day ago.

Yesterday the man had texted him saying that he wouldn’t be needed to babysit and apologized for canceling last minute and offered to still pay him a small rate. Changkyun and refused and asked if there was something wrong but he had just been left on read. Seeing Hoseok now he could definitely conclude that something had been wrong. God if he looked like this, he wondered how Sunni was feeling. He headed to her bedroom fully intent on finding out but was surprised to see her crib empty and as he hurried back to the living room he could see she also wasn’t in her playpen. Trying not to freak out, he turned to her father who was still standing frozen by the front door staring at nothing. Changkyun cleared his throat so he wouldn’t scare him and walked slowly over to him.

“Ya, Hoseok hyung, where’s Sunni? She’s not in her room or the playpen so..?” he trailed off staring at the other man resisting the urge to wave his hand in front of the other’s face. It took a few seconds for his words to register but when they did, Hoseok blinked and turned to Changkyun in mild surprise as if he’d forgotten the other was there (it’s possible he had) before frowning and then sighing.

“Shit, I’m sorry Changkyun, I meant to tell you the other day. Sunni’s with her grandmother for the weekend. She won’t be back until Monday so you didn’t have to come for today. Fuck, I’m so sorry I really should’ve really remembered to tell you.” Changkyun was shocked, not by what his friend said but by how despondent and hollow he sounded when he said it. What the hell had happened?!

“H-hyung, it’s ok. You forgot, th-that’s ok-”

“No it’s not Changkyun! You travel all the way over here to do your fucking job and I’m just too stupid and lazy that I forgot to tell you that you didn’t even have to come today!” Hoseok exploded causing Changkyun to violently flinch and move away from him and his sudden anger. Seeing him react that way, Hoseok immediately became repentant and even more disgusted with himself letting out a loud huff and walked to throw himself onto his couch face down. God, could he be any more pathetic?

If Changkyun wasn’t worried before, he was doubly so now and cautiously approached his friend until he was besides the couch and crouched down so they were at least close to eye level.

“Hoseok, what’s wrong? You’re not...are you ok?” he asked lamely not knowing how to talk to him. Had this been one of his other friends he would’ve had a plan of action already, but despite the few weeks, almost a month really, of working with Hoseok he really didn’t know much about him. He knew that he worked as a dance instructor four to five days a week and would usually call or text a day before if he wasn’t so that Changkyun didn’t have to come over. He also knew the guy had an almost unhealthy obsession with ramyun seeing as he’d stumbled upon a stockade of the stuff in the pantry about a week prior and when he confronted the man about it he’d only got a sheepish grin and laugh in reply. He didn’t know the truly important stuff about Hoseok, in fact he knew more about his daughter than he really did him.

It was sad seeing as Changkyun rather liked the man and his usually bubbly boisterous personality and enjoyed being in his company and being the one to make him laugh or smile. Which just made seeing him face down looking so forlorn such an odd and depressing sight. He waited through another minute of silence before asking the prone man the same questions again and was just thinking how who exactly he could possibly call when he saw him start to shift and turn his head to face Changkyun.

“Yesterday was my wedding anniversary.” Hoseok finally replied in a soft voice. Changkyun inhaled suddenly and was silent for a few seconds to ensure he heard what he thought he heard, and then his eyes got wide at the implications. Hoseok was married?! But he never saw anyone else in the apartment. Or with him in general. So where was his wife? Were they divorced? Is that why he was so depressed. Maybe she left him for someone else? Or worse, maybe…

“I took Sunni to Hyo-rin’s gravesite to visit her mother and pay respects and when I got back, her grandmother was already here and ready to take her for the weekend and I was just. So tired. I didn’t even fight it. Does that make me a bad father?” Hoseok asked suddenly, sadly looking over at his friend with tears slowly gathering in the corners of his eyes. Changkyun hastily started babbling that it wasn’t true but the other kept on talking over him.

“Sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not enough for her. That I’m not giving her everything that she needs and deserves, or that I’m away from her too often, or that I’m not, I’m not doing things right.”

“Don’t say that! You’re an amazing father, Sunni is so proud and happy having you as her dad.”

“But but what if, what if she grows up and and hates me for some for some of the cho-choices I made for her? I couldn’t handle that Kyun-ah, I really just, I just…” Hoseok couldn’t hold it in any longer and started sobbing into his couch cushion, the sight making Changkyun want to cry as well. Without thinking, the younger reached over and draped himself over his hyung holding him and patting his dry dirty hair while he cried out all his sorrows and frustrations that Changkyun had no idea he’d even had. Hoseok always seemed so happy and put together, it was heartbreaking that he had held all of this inside him afraid to tell anyone. Briefly, he wondered if the father had kept it to himself in fear of burdening others with his self pity because God if that was it, he was going to send Kihyun the biggest bucket of fried chicken available.

His friend was always going on about how Changkyun making himself miserable for the sake of his friends was stupid and in return would just make them even more miserable that they couldn’t help and he’d always just shrugged it off, but now looking at it head on he finally understood. Changkyun held him not saying anything just giving comfort until he couldn’t hear anymore sobs and felt him shift underneath him. He hastily got off feeling awkward and a tad embarrassed that he’d practically glued himself to the other and went back to his sitting position on the floor. Hoseok now looked even worse that before with swollen red eyes and puffy cheeks from his crying and his hair in disarray from Changkyun’s petting. But despite that he felt calmer, and maybe a little lighter?, than previously which was definitely a good thing. He looked at his friend on the floor who was apparently trying to look everywhere but at him with his cute little blushing ears and looking every bit as cute as his puppy-like nickname. He must’ve been doing something right for karma to have brought Changkyun into his life, right? He opened his mouth then closed it with a grimace at how stiff his jaw felt and the dryness of his mouth. “Kyun-ah.”

Changkyun whipped his head around at the sound of his nickname looking worriedly at the elder. “Yeah?”

Great, now he had his attention but he had no idea what he wanted to say. All thought fled from his mind and he was left literally blank. His panic must have been showing on his face since Changkyun’s worried look doubled and began babbling questions and wringing his hands nervously in front of him. Hoseok lifted himself more so he could reach forward and place a hand over the other’s stopping their movement.

“Thank you, Kyun-ah.” he told him sincerely making sure to look him in the eyes to convey his gratitude. The younger merely flushed brighter but gave him a small relieved smile and squeezed his hand between both of his own. “It’s no problem, hyung.”

Their quiet special moment was ruined however by Hoseok’s stomach making a loud gurgling noise surprising both men and resulting in one to give an embarrassed grin and the other to let out peals of laughter.

“It’s alright hyung, might as well make good use of your stockade.” Changkyun said with a teasing grin which Hoseok tried to pout at but couldn’t get his facial muscles to not smile at the thought of having ramyun.

About ten minutes later, both men had a giant steaming bowl in front of them while they argued companionably over what to watch in the father’s netflix queue before settling on _Strong Girl Bong Soon_ . (And then abruptly changing it to _The Emperor’s New Groove_ once Hoseok found out there was murder involved in the deceptively cute drama). In between shows and movies they talked about everything and nothing learning more about the other in a single evening than they had the past month.

The dinner trend continued the next few days when neither when Changkyun wasn’t at the cafe and Hoseok wasn’t writing and on the Sunday afternoon when Sunni was dropped off, they celebrated by ordering chicken and finishing a season of Sgt. Frog. Both men were happy that they were so comfortable in the other’s company and one was trying very hard keeping his growing affection platonic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, gals, and gal-pals!  
> As promised, another installation though a few days off schedule so my bad >.>;;  
> If you haven't noticed, I've finally added an ending chapter number so, yay planning!  
> Am I planning? Hopefully.  
> Comments are loved and appreciated!  
> Also: Happy Pride and MONSTA X IS KILLING ME WITH THEY WORLD TOUR LIKE OH MY GLOB.


	8. Night of Wonder Pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun gets forced into a night out and things get just a liitttlleee out of hand

Changkyun looked over at Jooheon with begging eyes, literally seconds from getting on his knees and making a human sacrifice because he out of all of them he had the power to stop this. “Please, pretty pretty please with sugar, caramel, and pepero on top pleeaassseeeee!”

Jooheon, deciding to not be a merciless god for once, merely shook his head with an unrepentant grin. “No can do~! Hyung’s right anyway, you haven’t really left the apartment in months.” Changkyun made a loud noise of complaint.

“I leave the house all the time!”

“For work!”

“I’m leaving aren’t I?!”

“Changkyun-ah!” Changkyun made a brattish noise at his name being yelled in exasperation like that but what else was he supposed to do when his supposed best friends were trying to force him out their apartment for a night out. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy their nights out together; especially with them all being few and far between since besides Jooheon and him everyone had actual careers, but that did not mean he wanted to spend the time they did have at some slinky ass club. Bars he could do, even the cringey karaoke bars that Kihyun sometimes drug them to, but Minhyuk was talking about an actual bouncers at the door, 20,000 won drinks, not a single space for Jesus or Buddha in the bathroom, club.

“Look, it’s not like you have to work tomorrow, and you’ve been working hard these past months with school and your jobs and everything so...you deserve to let off some steam every once in a while! So we’re going out, it’s decided.” Jooheon stated boldly and it would’ve been more intimidating had he not been doing a panda face mask. Changkyun himself was using a fox one so it wasn’t like he had any right to talk. He sighed from his prone position on their couch, loudly and with feeling so the other could know how much he was displeased but eventually relented like they knew he would. “Fine! But it’s not like I’ve got Minhyuk approved clubwear.” His roommate waved away his concern while pressing his mask to keep it from slipping. “We got that covered. Just text me your boss’ address and don’t take your bike today.” He raised an eyebrow in curiosity then cursed when his mask began to slip from its movement.

 

==

== 

 

Hoseok smiled from his position at the sink as he did their dirty dishes, or he was supposed to be instead of enjoying the domestic scene in front of him. Changkyun was humming along to one of the children’s songs playing as background music as he wiped at Sunni’s messy face from her dinner. Since their heart-to-heart, he and the younger man had become much closer; in fact, he wouldn’t hesitate in saying that Changkyun has easily become as close a friend as Hyungwon and Hyunwoo. They didn’t have the years of companionship like the others but that honestly didn’t matter to him. He had confessed to Hyungwon that he felt like he was using betraying their friendship since he had vented to Changkyun instead of him and had been quickly shot down. “I’m happy you finally told someone what was going on in that brick head of yours.” he commented dryly barely dodging the thrown pillow and yelping as he was then tackled by his larger friend.

But there was another reason Hoseok had been hesitant in telling his friend; the feelings he had for Changkyun were steadily seeping into the non-platonic form which both worried him and made him elated. He was worried because he didn’t want to make the younger man uncomfortable with his affections and now second guessed any seemingly innocent touch or word in case his feelings were accidentally made known, especially since Changkyun never made a point to really tell who or what he was interested in (he tried not to think of the guy he was with from the party at the grill but sometimes he did and would end up having to visit the gym for a few hours). But he was also elated since he’d been afraid that after Hyo-rin died he wouldn’t be able to have these types of feelings any longer. He had been ready and willing to completely shut down that part of his heart that wasn’t already occupied by his daughter, friends, and remaining family yet here this adorable puppy came in ruining his admittedly not perfectly laid plans. Honestly, it was like his wife had somehow knew and sent Changkyun in his way, which knowing her the way he did, she probably had. Even in heaven she was still meddling in his life having a good laugh about it and really, Hoseok couldn’t find it in him to complain.

Sunni’s bright giggle interrupted his wayward thoughts as Changkyun coddled and played with her in front of the tv with their queue already on the screen behind him. “Thanks again for making dinner for us, Kyun-ah. If you keep cooking like this, I’m going to have to start sleeping at the gym.” Hoseok complimented with a large grin rinsing the last dish and finally drying his hands. He didn’t have to turn around and see to know that his puppy was probably blushing, he could hear it in his stuttered scoff.

“Y-yeah right, hyung. Like a few non-ramyun meals are going to ruin your body.” Changkyun teased before blowing a soft raspberry on her stomach yelping a bit when Sunni screeching and flailing involved her grabbing a hold of his hair. When he finally got her grip to loosen (which wow, the strength in this family had to be hereditary it seemed) Hoseok was right there with a chuckle, though he didn’t know if it was because of the circumstance or at the bird’s nest his hair must resemble.

“So what, does that mean you’ve been checking out my body now, Kyun-ah?” the father said with a soft tilt of his head and a devilish smirk on his face. Suddenly all the air evaporated from Changkyun’s lungs and his mouth went desert dry because uh, what?! He could literally feel the heat emanating from his face and ears with his mouth opening of its own volition as he wondered how in the hell he was supposed to respond to this when the smirk changed teasing grin matched by a wink and loud laugh.

“The hell! Don’t say sh-stuff like that!” he complained not caring if it sounded like he was whining while the older man kept laughing at his suffering, even his daughter joining in to the merriment the traitor. Alright, that might be a bit too far; Sunni was too cute to knowingly be a traitor. Still, he did pout at her to show his displeasure, which of course she just laughed at.

Hoseok watched this all with a swelling sense of peace; he knew it had been a good idea to come home early. Especially since he had talked Changkyun into not calling it in and just hang out with the family for just a few hours more. What could he say, he liked to hoard any amount of time spent with his puppy. Just as they had settled on a cartoon (“Little Einsteins” by the way Changkyun’s eyes sparkled and his smile brightened as he sang along to the theme and had Sunni giggle and clap along in his lap because dammit, Hoseok was soft ok) Changkyun’s phone barked (his alerts are actual dog barks Hoseok really can’t) alerting him to a text message. Hoseok tried to not seem nosy while casually attempting to look over the younger’s shoulder to see who was texting him and got a twitch of laughter when he saw the person referred to as “Hangry Hyung.” Great, now he was wondering what his name was in the contacts.

“Sorry to cut tonight short like this but apparently my ride’s here.” Changkyun said apologetically looking up from his phone.

“Oh, you’ve got a ride tonight? I thought you usually took your bike.” Hoseok responded curiously taking Sunni out of the other’s lap so he could stand. “Yeah, but I got bullied into going out with my friends tonight so I’m basically being kidnapped.” the babysitter commented so blithely Hoseok nearly choked on a laugh.

“I don’t think kidnapped is an actual thing once you’re no longer a kid Kyun-ah.” Changkyun turned to him scandalized as he zipped up his jacket. “As long as I can enjoy cartoons and plushies, I’m a child goddammit.”

“I also don’t think kids can curse.”

“Well you obviously didn’t know me growing up.”

“I bet you were adorable.” Hoseok thought aloud with a grin. “You’re so cute now, I can’t imagine how adorable and tiny you might’ve been when you were younger.”

Changkyun, of course, nearly slipped and died on his way to grabbing his shoes at the older man’s out loud thinking with his face aflame from either mortification that he nearly tripped and died or that fucking Hoseok called him adorable _twice_. So he was basically reduced to a shell of what he once was so in detail, a shell who kept gaping over at the other with his shoes clutched in hand and stuttered noises of “yah” “how can you just” “the hell” on repeat. Really a marvelous start to the night if he did say so himself. The sudden buzzing and repeated barking coming from his pocket told him that his hyung was getting impatient and that he needed to leave ten minutes ago. “Ah, so, I’m just gonna go? I’ll see you Monday!” Changkyun managed to get out before nearly tripping again as he turned to run out of the apartment trying not to think of Hoseok’s giggles that floated from the closed door.

God his life was so unfair sometimes.

 

==

==

 

Changkyun stared at the person in the mirror. And kept staring. He had to admit the person _looked_ somewhat like him. They were the same height and they had the same dark hair color but that was about where the similarities ended. Gone were glasses and even his boring brown irises, instead colored contacts of a brilliant green flecked hazel stared out, his black hair was parted towards the side instead of in the middle having his fringe look longer and hang-dare he suggest-tantalizingly over his right eye. Eyeliner and kohl had been taken to his eyes making them seem wider with just a hint of red for coloring on his actual lids. Asking him about his jawline any other day and he’d probably tell it looks like any other since he never really paid much attention, now though he was at least seventy percent sure this jawline could cut through glass holy hell. Even his nose didn’t seem as big as he usually condemned instead it seemed more like an accented focal point than it did a homing beacon. Good Lord, did his lips even look fuller?!? They did; even gaped unattractively like they were, between the color and the gloss it looked as though they’d already been trapped between someone else’s teeth instead of just his usual nibbling. All in all Changkyun had to say, he would definitely tap that.

“Sooo...do you like it or what?” Kihyun asked in a deceptively light tone of voice since the bastard could see how flabbergasted he was and knew the actual answer. A choked sound was all Changkyun could really give him as he reached up to touch his cheek in order to ensure this was all actually real only to get it smacked away by the older man.

“Don’t, you’ll crease the foundation and then I’ll have to do it all over again.” he ordered sternly inspecting his work anyway to make sure it was still ok. Changkyun did the truly adult thing and mimicked the older man in a whinier tone of voice which resulted in him getting a flat look and a cuff to the back of the head making him whine in earnest. “I thought you didn’t want to mess up your work!”

“Hair is always an easy fix, be glad I didn’t thump you like you deserved.” Kihyun said primly not-so-gently nudging his dongsaeng over to do his own makeup for the evening. They had all converged over at Kihyun’s apartment to get ready since apparently his bathroom had the better lighting to do Changkyun’s face but really it was also because his place was only a few minutes walk away from the club Minhyuk had been raving and wanting to go by.

(“They have this DJ who only comes by randomly like once or twice a month and I’ve been informed by top people that he’s most definitely going to be there tonight.”

“‘Informed by top people,’ look at you sounding like a bootleg spy movie.” Kihyun cackled.)

Which lead to everyone in various states of readiness and excitement (everyone but Changkyun) or anxiety (Changkyun). Minhyuk burst into the bathroom ignoring a scowling Kihyun who nearly poked his eye with his eyeliner and a squawking Changkyun who, true to form, literally tripped over himself coming out the bathroom while continuing whatever conversation he was having and simultaneously plugging in a portable flat iron.

“I’m just saying all those chains don’t really go together like that! Maybe if you actually layered some of them and left the rest in the bag you wouldn’t look like a Chingy rip off!” Minhyuk yelled the last part out as he blew his bangs out his face makeup still flawless from having done it himself nearly half an hour ago with the sparkles on his cheek matching the ones coming off his off shoulder top.

Changkyun and Kihyun had gone for relative casualness in regards to dress; Changkyun had tight dark wash jeans and a dark red button up that was partially tucked in to emphasize his narrow waist (or so his friends who instructed him to do so had told him) while Kihyun had on tight black jeans with strategically placed rips and a white t-shirt that was getting paired with a black almost shimmery leather jacket. Which honestly should look way too casual for the type of club Minhyuk kept hyping but per usual, to Changkyun’s irrational dismay, he still managed to look ridiculously attractive. He swore if it weren’t for the fact that their personalities were less than stellar, he’d seriously consider getting new friends.

Once everyone was finally dressed, though he used the term loosely in regard to how much skin Minhyuk was showing, they finally left after doing a pre-party round of shots at the apartment toasting to a night on the town. Changkyun primarily used the shot to calm his still hyped nerves hoping the burn of the alcohol would help him along. And it worked right up until they found the club, after two wrong turns with one nearly leading them into what Jooheon deemed “Every Murder’s Dream Come True Alley,” they made it to the club with a long line of people already hanging out in front most carrying flyers proclaiming the name DJ H.ONE.

“Seeeee?! I told you tonight was the night!” Minhyuk gleefully pointed out as he lead them through the throng of people with his newly dyed silver hair as their homing beacon. When they finally made it to the front of the line instead of some large overly buff security guard standing by it was a still large guy but he was more on the long and lean side than the overly buff side. Although now that he was taking a closer look, Changkyun could admit that his biceps looked considerably dangerous and his RBF was at least over 9000 so, maybe he was in the right profession.

“Markie Poo! How’s life? And by life I mean how’s Jackson? Still redecorating your apartment for the hundredth time?” Minhyuk called out actually wrapped his arms around this man and not suffering some form of death, either from the man himself or from his boyfriend standing by.

Even more surprising was that the man deemed “Markie Poo” just gave out a long suffering sigh and pouted which, unfairly in Changkyun’s mind, made him seem even more handsome and appealing than he had seconds ago. “He got a bunch of these crystal things from Anthropology and I just know one day I’m gonna come home to find he’s moved all my records and replaced them with those things saying it’ll ‘open up the room’ or something.” the man complained sounding weary and resigned still speaking through his pout while both Minhyuk and Jooheon gave him consoling pats or nods.

“That sucks bro. So how ‘bout those wristbands? Pretty please?”

“Markie Poo” (Changkyun was 99% sure that wasn’t his actual name but he’d long learned to never count out anything in regards to Minhyuk since he did have a friend whose actual name was BamBam) for the most gave Minhyuk an unimpressed bemused look before doing an even louder longer sigh while pulling out a handful of plastic neon wristbands much to the crowd of people behind them disapproval.

Squealing his thank you’s, Minhyuk eagerly passed out the colored bands before pulling them along into the surprisingly well lit club. In Changkyun’s defense, most of the clubs his friends drug him too were dark with the only lights coming from either the flashing lights or someone’s bright outfit, so color him surprised for once.

“Alright! It’s still a little early before the DJ starts, so lets get turned up!”

One day they’re all going to regret ever teaching the man that saying, but unfortunately tonight was not that night.

Kihyun lead the way towards an empty booth while Minhyuk and Jooheon went ahead to the bar and slipped into a seat with soft bounce with Changkyun slipping in beside him as they looked around the place.

"You know, for all the talk he'd been doing about this club, it's actually not that bad. I was nearly worried there'd be stripper poles at every table like that last one he dragged us to." the photographer remarked not keeping the surprise out his voice. Changkyun nodded in agreement though shuddered at the memory of that dark night. Just because he was gay and women's breast did nothing for him did not mean he wanted them nearly touching his face. Or in his drinks, gross. "I don't know why you're the one complaining, hyung. I'm the one who kept getting asked to join threesomes that night." he whined then glared as Kihyun laughed at his whining. 

"Oh my God, I nearly forgot that! Was that before or after they tried to take a body shot off your ass." Changkyun made a face. "Before. And it was your ass they wanted the shot from."

"Oh yeah..."

"Here you guys are, why didn't you tell me you'd already found some seats!?" Minhyuk's voice carried over the steadily filling club as he plunked down glasses on the table.

"It's not that full that you couldn't find us, and I'm pretty sure you don't have any room in those pants for your phone so texting you would've been useless." the youngest pointed out taking a better look at the drinks. Jooheon came up a few seconds later bearing two more drinks before taking one that was two-toned orange and yellow. 

"Drink up! Whoever this DJ is has already got my love. Apparently whenever he comes, drinks are half off. Min, how'd you find out about this again?" he asked taking a sip then sliding into a seat opposite his friends and only gave a soft "oof" when his boyfriend decided to plop down in his lap. "I told you guys! I have connections! I know people!"

"Who? 'Markie Poo'?"

"Ya! I'm the only one who's allowed to call him that! Well actually only his boyfriend's allowed to call him that but, I can get away with it because his boyfriend says I'm cute." Jooheon huffed and poked his boyfriend in the gut making him squeal as he went for his drink. "Stop getting your facts wrong, Jackson said  _I'm_ the cute one so technically  _I'm_ the one who should be allowed to call him that."

"But you won't because you're afraid of him so I get to by association."

"I saw him throw an office chair at someone and dent a wall! One of those heavy ones too! It's a natural reaction to be afraid of him!" 

Changkyun learned long ago how to tune his two friends out when they got like this so he instead focused on the last two unaccounted for drinks and wondered which went where. One was in a tall skinny glass but was as red as Satan's right butt cheek while the other was in a small stout glass but had something floating in it. Not the best choices. He met Kihyun's gaze and both did a single nod before coming to a decision and raising their fists. After a short game of rock paper scissors in which Changkyun came out victorious, he grabbed the tall red drink while Kihyun grudgingly took the other. Then they promptly switched five seconds later when they found out his tasted like straight ether and Kihyun's had pop rocks in it. 

The group sipped their drinks as they talked already feeling the excitement in the air and maybe getting a little more than tipsy as they took full advantage of half priced alcohol. As the time slipped past and nothing disastrous happened, Changkyun found himself relaxing and could almost physically feel the tension unwinding itself from his vertebrae. Maybe his friends had been right and he had needed this night out.

"Aww, Kyunnie said we were right! Quick Kihyun-ah, get a picture to preserve it." Minhyuk giggled swaying slightly on Jooheon's lap. Changkyun blinked in surprise since he had been pretty sure he'd only thought that.

"You're thinking out loud again, Kyunnie. Maybe slow down a little with those drinks." Kihyun chided lightly reaching over to pull the younger's drink out of reach but became intercepted by him shielding it with his arms. "Nooo~ It tastes like liquid pocky it's sooo goood~" Changkyun defended with a large pout. He normally didn't like to drink because most alcohol tasted bad or weird or left odd burning sensations in the back of his throat but these drinks were nice and tasty and he really really liked them. Jooheon snorted since it was always entertaining when Changkyun got like this but after a pointed look from Kihyun he tapped his fingers on the table to get his friend's attention and asked about Sunni. Talking about the baby he looked after distracted him well enough when he was sober, it could possibly have a better effect now that he was nearly two sheets to the wind. 

"Sunni-yah! She's sooo soo cute you guys, you guys have really no idea. We're trying to get her interest in walking but all she wants to do is do this little booty scoot on the floor and Hoseokkie is all worried she's going to get carpet burn or something which is a fair fear-pft-but like, she wears like two layers of clothes and her diaper so unless she were doing it twenty four hours a day-"

"Who's Hoseokkie?"

"Pardon?" Minhyuk's gleeful smirk would've scared Changkyun any other day but today it didn't hold the same fear.

"You said 'Hoseokkie' was all worried, who's Hoseokkie, Kyunnie?"

Changkyun paused and tried to think about what he'd said moments ago even going so far as to cock his head to the side reminiscent of his nickname. "Nonono, I said Hoseok hyung."

"You said 'Hoseokkie.' We all heard it." Now Jooheon was joining in with the teasing while Kihyun looked like he had swallowed a full lemon. Don't get him wrong, he was happy Changkyun was doing a job that paid well and obviously didn't treat him like shit but did it seriously have to be with that guy? That muscle bound smiley face mountain of a person who was probably trying to get into his pants, daughter be damned. He had hoped his younger friend wouldn't have been taken in with such an obvious dope but really, it was partially his fault for always scaring any suitors away from his friend. Maybe he should've kept that Donghyun guy around, his hair might've smelled like tuna but he was mostly harmless. 

"Kihyyuunn~! Kihyun-ah! Earth to hamster! Helloo~" Kihyun came back to the present with a start and a scowl seeing Minhyuk waving a hand in front of his face. He slapped it away rolling his eyes at the dramatic wail and pout being directed at him. Changkyun was apparently still going on about the daily adorable adventures of Sunni now using his hands for unneeded gestures and reactions while two of his hyungs had a slap battle across the table with another one trying to stop it but really just cheering them on. At least until he abruptly stopped and suddenly shouted out "HYUNGSHI" which had everyone looking at him as if he were even drunker than they thought. 

"I'm pretty sure I told you last time that you could call me hyung, Changkyun-ah." Hyungwon told him with an amused look as walked over from another group of people. Jooheon and Minhyuk were confused on how their little Changkyun could know this actual specimen while Kihyun was attempting to not react and throw his drink all over the man's admittedly handsome attire. Changkyun however just made a noise between squeal and a whine as he motioned for the other to come closer to their table. 

"I said hyung this time I did! It's just that your name already has it in there so it's just like, almost unnecessary to bring it up a second time? Hyungwon hyung, hyungwon, won hyung, hyyuunngggshi." Changkyun explained which, he thought he did pretty well for his inebriated state. Which is exactly what an inebriated person might think. Hyungwon for the most part just laughed totally amused by this new side of the puppy Hoseok couldn't and wouldn't stop talking about. He was already making a mental note to take as many pictures as he could sneak to send them to the older man. Or maybe he should wait and see him in person so he could have a front row to his reactions. That would probably be a better bet. "Hmm, I guess that does explain it. So are these your friends?" he asked taking note of the other men at the table and having no trouble recognizing the shit from the restaurant. Even if he was better dressed; leather can't hide assholery. 

"Yes! Yes these are my very best friends. That's Minhyuk hyung and the person he's sitting on is Jooheon hyung, annnddd Idunno if you remember or not but this is Kihyung from the restaurant. I mean, Kihyun hyuuung." Changkyun giggled at his slip up and didn't notice someone casually pull his drink away. Hyungwon for the most part was cordial giving everyone a smile and a tiny wave of his fingers before landing on Kihyun who, for the most part, was actually looking at him this time but to a rational person they'd rather he wasn't from the dark look coming their way. But no one ever said Hyungwon was rational, so he just grinned brighter and gave a "It's great to see you again, Kihyun-ssi. How's that stick doing these days?" in a mild tone. 

Kihyun's look darkened and even in sparse lighting you could see his jaw clench tightly while Changkyun hummed along to a Big Bang song playing and Jooheon looked between the two confused. Minhyuk was also confused but he's also smart and has a knack for remembering embarrassing stories about his friends, so it only took him a few seconds (and he blames those extra seconds on his drinking) to connect that this was the same person from the infamous grill party. This night literally couldn't get better. "I'm afraid not, Hyungwon-ssi, but as you can see we're trying to make progress." the silver haired man butt in with a sunny smile. Hyungwon actually laughed out loud at this while Kihyun directed his dark look and scowl over at his friend and kicking him under the table only to apparently hit his boyfriend who yelped and cursed. 

"That's really great. Unfortunately I've got to get to work but, best of luck with the dislodging." he replied with a small smirk.

"Oh? So you work here? As what, one of the dancing poles?" Kihyun spat out still reeling from the stick nonsense. Hyungwon didn't reply (the bastard) but only gave him a wink before disappearing into the crowd. Minhyuk was greatly entertained and happy to finally be meeting  _someone_ from that dinner and took great pleasure in explaining what just happened to a still confusing and pouting Jooheon before the lights all around the club went off. 

"Ladies and gentlemen! Starship would like to welcome back a crowd favorite for the evening. Everyone get ready for DJ H.One!"

Suddenly the only light was illuminating the elevated DJ platform with a familiar smirking face standing behind the station. 

"Kihyun! You didn't tell me that guy was DJ Fucking H.One!" 

"What the actual fucking-!"

"WOOOO! GO HYUNG! PLAY YOUR JAMS~!"

Their shouts were drowned out by the louder shouting and screaming of the club patrons at seeing Hyungwon standing there before quieting down at a single raised hand. But when that hand dropped, so did the music and  _holy actual shit._

Kihyun was positive nothing else this night could surprise him more than that smirk beanpole piece of shit being an actual (and honestly good like what the hell) DJ.

This was proven false about two hours later by seeing Changkyun bite someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *clears out all the cobwebs*  
> Hiii guys~ I'm sooooo sosososososoosososososo sorry for the lack of update but so much has happened this past month that I rarely had the time, the energy, or the focus to get this chapter up (and don't even get me started on L&R) but I sincerely promise to try harder to keep with my updating schedule of every other week. Fingers crossed tho!


	9. Night of Wonder Pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the second half of a most peculiar night! also a little bonus because i'm a nice writer i swear

Changkyun didn’t drink regularly partly because of convenience. With all the time he spent working his numerous jobs and then coming home to study late into the night, it would be pretty stupid to waste even a fraction of that time dulling his senses and getting drunk. Back when he was still living at home, he hadn’t done so because it had been a drunk driver who had nearly permanently disfigured his father so afterwards he had revolted at even the slightest glance of alcohol. He got a bit better about it, obviously, but was usually very firm about not ever driving when he’s drinking. So firm that he’d actually walked home once in the middle of the rain after going to a bar rather than ride with his coworkers who he’d gone with.

Back to the point of all this, the absolute main reason why Changkyun didn’t drink was because he was a lightweight. Feather lightweight as Jooheon once told him when he too had been three sheets to the wind. And when Changkyun was under there was nothing and no one that could stop him. Even the usual affable Kihyun who was trying to work out just where he had lost the younger boy. He’d given up going to Minhyuk for help since the man was grinding up against his boyfriend (urgh he really didn’t want to burn these contacts, they’d cost a pretty penny, but he would if it would get rid of the images) and he was running out of options. The maknae had been with them the full hour and half DJ (which he hadn’t enjoyed in the slightest) before jumping up and announcing he had to go to the bathroom.

It was now going on about forty minutes since Kihyun had seen Changkyun and he was starting to go into Panic Mode. He’d already tried the bathrooms and looked in every stall (to the occupants’ mortification), and even braved the women’s restrooms just to ensure his friend hadn’t wandered in there by accident. Even though he was crimson from embarrassment from the end of it, he was still short one Lim Changkyun. Asking the trouble couple hadn’t gotten him any satisfaction with their blase attitudes. “Oh he’s probably out dancing let the kid enjoy himself!” “Yeah, let him live hyung!” Staying and yelling at them wouldn’t help him find Changkyun any sooner so he put it on the back burner to keep looking. Eventually he found himself on an podium with a long pole attached along with several gyrating others using the added height to search through the club better.

“And you were talking shit about me and poles earlier, look at you now!”

He must’ve done something tragic in a former life for God to keep throwing this asshole in his path.

“I don’t have time for you cockroach, I’ve got other things to worry about.” If it were possible, the smirk on Hyungwon’s face widened even more.

“If it’s about how you’re going to make any money with that figure of yours, all the time in the world still wouldn’t be enough to-”

“I just said shut the fuck up you pest! Changkyun went missing and he’s fucking lit and if I don’t find him something bad could happen.” Kihyun growled ferociously at the taller man who seemed to finally take the hint. Hyungwon furrowed his brow as he thought of the last time he could’ve possibly seen the younger before pinching the back of Kihyun’s calf causing him to shriek.

“What now frog!?” The dj just rolled his eyes

“He was over by the hookah bar doing body shots around ten minutes ago I think.”

Kihyun made a weird noise between a garbled shout and a growl before jumping off the ledge and stomping in the direction of the bar. Hyungwon followed behind sedately because this was the most entertainment he’d ever gotten from a gig in ever. The hookah bar is less “bar” more “lounge where annoying people can vape and blow smoke rings” and right besides that is a long table where a girl wearing a mess dress and not much else was giggling as the men and women around her took turns drinking off of her. But still no Changkyun. “Goddammit frog, I thought you said you saw him over here!” Hyungwon rolled his eyes and didn’t even bother praying for patience. “Like I said, it was around ten minutes ago. He must’ve left since then.”

Kihyun huffed and went to the nearest person who wasn’t currently accelerating their BAC and as politely as he could tapped them on the arm. “Excuse me! I’m looking for a friend of mine. He’s a bit taller than me with dark brown hair and a red shirt?”  Hyungwon butted in helpfully with his own addition, “Probably plastered to hell and back.” which had the shorter male scowl and kick him in the shins. While the dj suffered the man visibly looked as though he was collecting his thoughts before nodding vigorously. “Yeah yeah, he was here a few minutes ago but uh..I don’t really-oh wait! Susie should know! She was all over him!” Kihyun looked disgusted at the thought of some unnamed harlot named “Susie” all over his poor Changkyun. Who he was going to strangle with his bare hands once he finally found him after this demented game of hide ‘n seek. When asked who the all important “Susie” was they then had to wait for her to get off the table to actually talk to her. After she finally stopped giggling she informed the pair that while finding Changkyun adorable he wasn’t really up for her needs (“If you catch my drift” she elaborated with a wiggle of her pinky finger) so she had thrown him at a friend of hers and sent them off to the dance floor.

“That had to be about uh, four or five minutes ago?” Susie ended with a light shrug before turning back to the next round of shots. Kihyun didn’t even bother attempting to thank her and instead turned back to the sea of people gyrating to the newest edm pop song wondering where in the fuck his friend could. His luck would then turn around when exactly fourteen seconds after thinking that he heard a shout coming from a corner to his left where a guy was yelling and shaking and pushing against something attached to his arm. It took him a bit longer to realize that the something attached was actually the very person who he’d been looking for. With a shout, Kihyun ran over to his friend who had finally realized his victim who was still angrily pushing at him while he did nothing but bear his teeth mockingly.

“Changkyun! Where the fuck have you been?! And what the fuck is happening!?” The man turned to him with a snarl fully formed on his face. “So you know this sonuvabitch?! You know he’s fucking crazy?! One minute we’re dancing and shit and the next, he’s biting my fucking hand off like a goddamn lunatic!” he yells showing off the prominent teeth indentations on his hand which were quickly purpeling to a bruise. Kihyun honestly didn’t know what to say and in his floundering, Changkyun managed to come to his own defense. “I tooolld you if you put it there again I’d bite it. ‘S not m’ fault that you didn’t listen.” though drunk and slurring the definitive anger in his eyes were still prominent. Though that was nothing compared to the positively glowing pools of hatred that were burning in both his hyungs’ eyes.

“Where exactly were you putting your hands?” the elder asked with a saccharine grin hiding his dangerous tone of voice. The man just scoffed. “None of your business.”

“No, but it is mine.” Hyungwon piped up using his height as an advantage to stare down at the pathetic idiot in front of him. “Maybe I should make a note to the owner of this place what kind of cockroaches he lets scamper in here.” The man merely sneered up at him.

“Oh? And who are you then? Some sorta fuckbuddy?” he giggled drunkenly at his own poor attempt at a joke.

“Hey! Hyung is like, the best DJ, ok? The _coolest_ DJ he like, lit this place up. On some sorta. Like. Interstellar fire shit. It was lit ok?!” Changkyun butted in pointing his finger accusingly at the would be assaulter while trading adoring looks at Hyungwon who was more than a bit amused and maybe just a little touched. He liked the overuse of the word “lit” to describe his style.

“Like my friend said, I’m the best. And if my friend wants to keep my patronage, like I’m sure he will, he would listen to my concerns rather than those of an insect like you.” Beside him, Kihyun scoffed as he looked over the man.

“Hyungwon-ssi, that’s an insult to insects. He’s more like...the scum from the gutter. Don’t you agree?” he asked looking up at him with malicious glee. Hyungwon just nodded sagely. “You’re right Kihyun-ssi, scum is a much better descriptor.”

The scu-man didn’t take lightly to his new namesake and approached Kihyun with his hand and voiced raised then promptly lost one when the shorter male grabbed his wrist and wrenched it backwards. He immediately fell to the floor hissing and screeching in pain while Kihyun watched with a bored expression. “My my, you really don’t have any sense do you? I’m going to ask you this only once because I’m nice. Aren’t I nice?” he tightened his grip on his wrist until the man nodded in agreement to his niceness. “And because I’m so nice, I’m not going to break your wrist, but instead let you go back to whatever crypt you slithered your way out of and ask that you think about what you could’ve done better tonight. Hm?” After another short squeeze he released the man who quickly cradled his injured hand, the same that was bitten, and made his way through the crowd possibly towards the nearest exit. The small crowd that had accumulated dispersed since no fighting had actually happened and went onto the next exciting thing leaving Hyungwon to gape with little witnesses. What the actual _fuck-_

“How the hell do you know how to do that?!” he exclaimed while Changkyun giggled in the background seemingly saying, “scary hyung ish scary.” Kihyun for the most part just shrugged #unbothered. “I took a free self defense class when I was in school . I’m actually glad the guy ran when he did; I only know like, two moves and neither involve breaking bones.” he admitted with a breathy laugh. Hyungwon however kept staring at him, attempting to assemble the puzzle before him when heard a whine and saw Changkyun suddenly look dejected. “Hey, what’s wrong Changkyun-ah? Did that guy do more than he said?” That got Kihyun’s attention who immediately went over to the maknae and started doing a veritable cavity search for injuries while the man just shook his head.

“Noo, I just...I think I wanna leave. I gotta, I gotta do somethin’ important.” Both men stared at him in confusion though neither could say they didn’t understand why he’d suddenly want to leave.

“Yah, Kyunnie, c’mon stay a little bit longer. That prick is long gone and even if something happened you’ve got your hyungs to protect you. Well, you’ve at least got me.” Kihyun added as an afterthought ignoring Hyungwon’s affronted yelp as he thought about the two others who he last saw dry humping on the dance floor. But Changkyun just shook his head, rapidly in fact, to the point that he got himself dizzy and had to lean on both older men to steady himself. “Nooooo! Hyung is, it’s important. I’s an important thing and I gotta do it tonight or, or something, something else bad could happen. I gotta!” Both men looked torn about letting their friend go anywhere by himself in the inebriated state he was but only one knew just how stubborn the younger could be with or without alcohol coursing through his bloodstream.

“Alright Changkyunnie, but I’m going with you to make sure nothing else happens.”

“Me too.” Kihyun cut a sharp look over at the taller man.

“Yah! You did your good deed or whatever, go back to whatever giant you’re supposed to be a beanstalk for!” Hyungwon huffed trying not to show his amusement. “Y’know if you were more original I just might, but this isn’t about you. Besides, you’ve both been drinking it’d be a dick move to have you two stumbling wherever Changyun needs to go.” Kihyun scowled since the man was technically right, those drinks from earlier were still in his system and he could feel them sloshing around the outer edges for awhile. But that didn’t mean this bastard had to be right!

“It’s not like you’re any better! I bet you’ve had a dozen drinks tonight since they’re half off.” The DJ just shook his head. “Couldn’t even if I wanted to. I hate working buzzed, it makes my music flow less. Plus I drove here.” The shorter male just stared at him like he couldn’t believe what he just heard while Changkyun just whooped claiming “shotgun!” as he pulled a protesting Kihyun towards the nearest exit. Once again, Hyungwon was left to trail behind in thinly veiled amusement.

 

When Kihyun found out just where Changkyun wanted to go he immediately put his foot down (he literally did stomp his foot in the car just to emphasize this point) and surprisingly even Hyungwon asked if he was really sure he wanted to do this. Changkyun ignored both his friends and adamantly (and maybe just a tad weepy, he knew how to lay it on thick when it was necessary) inferred that this was something he abso-positively needed to do. Kihyun told him in a hushed voice that they could keep driving around until the maknae inevitably passed out to keep him from doing this but Hyungwon thought differently. He may not agree the timing but he was impressed and respected the younger’s fervor. Without further ado, he drove them out to the destination and while Kihyun sulked in the car, helped Changkyun up the lift and to the correct apartment number with only a short salute of “knock ‘em dead.” When he came back to the car Kihyun was looking up at the apartment windows as if he could possibly see inside for his friend while the taller male tsk’d. “You know he’s an adult right? Like a fully capable adult?”

The man scowled. “Your point?”

“Maybe you should try trusting him a little more. Loosen up you mama bird grip and let him fly from the nest.”

“And if he falls?” Hyungwon shrugs.

“And if he flies?”

 

==

==

 

Hoseok rolled over clutching a pillow to his chest grumbling that it was Dae-Hyun’s turn to let the dog out as he tried to tune out the noise coming from the door. When the noise progressed from soft scratches to actual knocks he sat up suddenly and looked over at his baby monitor sighing in relief that the noise wasn’t coming from Sunni’s room nor had it woken his daughter up. Then who or what the hell was making all that noise at-he checked the clock and hissed-two in the morning?! Grumbling, he got out of bed and crept silently to his front door where the abnormal knocking was coming from and peered through the peephole. He was surprised to see who it was and after rubbing his eyes to ensure he wasn’t seeing things, he unlocked his door and opened it.

“Kyun-ah? What’re you doing here this late? Is something wrong?” Changkyun shook his head negative before walking, crookedly, into the apartment. When he passed, Hoseok managed to get a whiff of cologne, smoke, and most importantly alcohol. His puppy was drunk!

“Hi, yes,  um, I know it’s late, it’s probably really late I sorta didn’t bring my watch with me but I really really need to do this now while I was still sorta tipsy so I didn’t lose my nerve and..ohnoooo. Sunni-ya’s sleeping and I’m bothering you I’m soso sorry hyung!” Changkyun’s fast paced stopped midway to turn into a slow sad whine completely with sad puppy brown eyes and a pout that Hoseok knew he was particularly weak to.

“H-hey, it’s ok Kyun-nah. She’s still asleep you haven’t-”

“But I still could’ve and that’s bad because how am I gonna tell you I like you when I keep messing up like this?!” The father stared at the other man unsure that he heard what he think he heard as Changkyun kept berating himself whiningly. “Wha-what do you mean you like me?” he finally asked. The younger man gave him a very unimpressed look that was even cuter than usual since his cheeks were flushed (from the alcohol or from his ranting Hoseok wasn’t sure) before he gave a loud huff. “That’s what I mean! I like you! Allot actually even though I’m not supposed to cuz your my boss technically and you’re like suuuper hot so by like the laws of everything you would _neevverrr_ be interested in me but, like, but I still couldn’t stop them! An’ and it’s not just cuz you’re hot like, hot damn hot but also because you’re really really nice to me and you’re really funny when you’re not trying to be which is really cute which is so totally unfair! By the way! You can’t be both cute and hot Hoseok hyung! You-! You have to pick one! So pick one!” Changkyun flipped on him again going from his whiny shy voice to his louder authoritative one actually poking his finger out and waving it threateningly at the older man. Hoseok really tried hard not to giggle, he didn’t know why but he was pretty sure if he did it would ruin everything and he didn’t want that, so he just hid it behind a large smile.

“Cute. I’ll take cute for you Kyun-ah.” This apparently appeased Changkyun who nodded sharply a few times which apparently made him dizzy since he had to steady himself on one of the counters. Hoseok went over to him and gently guided him to the living room sofa and sat him down on it so he couldn’t accidentally hurt himself.

“Good! Good, so. I like you hyung. But not just because you’re cute but also. Also be-cause you’re a cute person. Good person! I meant what I said, you’re a good person.” Changkyun reiterated emphasizing his points with hard pats on the sofa. Hoseok just smiled while inwardly cooing over the whole situation and wondered if he’d be relieved or disappointed when his puppy didn’t remember any of this the next morning. With how blitzed the younger man was, he had faith he wouldn’t even remember his national ID let alone what he’d told the older man. But for him and his still racing heart it was enough for him to know he’d at least have a chance and that maybe he could be as brave as Changkyun and tell him his feelings. Though hopefully without the excess amounts of alcohol. “Thank you, Kyun-ah. That means a lot coming from you. You should lie down now ok? You’re probably really tired from all that walking.”

Actually Hoseok had no idea how Changkyun got to his apartment or which club he must’ve gone to. His apartment was at the very least a good ten minute drive away from the nearest one so unless he had gotten a cab or uber, he must’ve walked pretty far. Instead of arguing, Changkyun agreed that he was in fact pretty tired, which lead to another whiny rant about just how _nice_ his hyung was. It also randomly brought to light that the younger was a thousand percent sure he could bounce a 100 won coin off his ass which the father took as a appreciated compliment. When he was sure the younger wasn’t going to escape the couch, he went to the linen closet (that also seconded as the excess ramyun stockade) and pulled out a blanket to cover him. Thankfully Changkyun had run out of steam and had laid down fully with both his knees near touching his chest with one arm dangling over the edge and another close to his mouth. And because Hoseok is the weak son of a bitch he is, after he’s draped the blanket over Changkyun’s prone form, he pressed a soft kiss to his fingers closest to his mouth and tells him goodnight before escaping to his bedroom. One problem down, about a hundred more to go.

 

==

==

 

The next morning found him waking up squinting at the bright light from a familiar soft surface listening to some bustling happening just a few feet away. The headache and ringing ears was part of the normal hangover package that came from his late night work but there was also something else aching that definitely had him concerned. As he laid there battling if existence was worth this he sat up slowly, wincing here and there as he tried to piece together what exactly had happened. Bits and pieces of the previous night were suspending in the jello haze that was his mind but trying to piece them together was maddening.

“Oh, did I wake you?”

He turned slightly wincing again as the sunlight slipped into his retinas to see another pulling on his shirt and running fingers through his pink hair. “I had kinda worried after you passed out that maybe you had drank more than you said but after you kept rolling over in your sleep I realized that’s just how you were. Honestly, I should’ve seen it coming.”

Hyungwon blinked slowly as even more pieces were added to his jello maze ( _fingers tracing his spine, something cold, then warm, then like liquid fire_ ), joining the ones already there and some making absolutely no sense whatsoever. “Wha’?” he slurred. The other man just huffed as he looked around the room for his shoes and made a soft noise when he found them and started pulling them on. “You’re even slower in the morning, can’t say I’m surprised. Well, see you around I guess.” The man slipped on his jacket and walked out the bedroom. Hyungwon could hear him moving through the living room ( _tripping over books and socks that he hadn’t put away, a giggle because he was actually trying to scold him about his mess while his cock was down his throat_ ) and out his front door leaving him alone with his mess of thoughts. He sat like this in his bed for roughly ten minutes before everything suddenly made sense and his eyes nearly bugged out his head. He’d had sex with Kihyun.

With Satan’s Apprentice Yoo Kihyun.

“And that short little shit topped?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyy~~ long time no see~  
> *dodges the trash thrown at her*  
> OK SO YEAH. I KNOW I LIED ALL THOSE MONTHS AGO. I'M SORRY. allot of ish has gone down (like. allot) and i'm gonna try and come back to my posting schedule. or like a schedule of a schedule. or i'll try to post more. whichever happens first. yelling at me = love!


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